(CNN)Marvin Gaye's children have penned an open letter in the hope of "set[ting] the record straight on a few misconceptions" in the media's coverage of their successful lawsuit against the writers of Robin Thicke's 2013 hit "Blurred Lines." Nona Gaye, Frankie Gaye and Marvin Gaye III's joint letter mainly dives into the background and legacy of Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up," the 1977 single the court found to have been copied by Thicke and co-writer Pharrell Williams. Read more: Kendrick Lamar's 'To Pimp a Butterfly': A track-by-track guide . In the letter, the siblings imagine how their father would have handled the situation. "If he were alive today, we feel he would embrace the technology available to artists and the diverse music choices and spaces accessible to fans who can stream a song at a moment's notice," the siblings wrote. "But we also know he would be vigilant about safeguarding the artist's rights. He also gave credit where credit is due." Read more: Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Fall Out Boy to induct Hall of Famers . Even though the outcome of the lawsuit favored the Gaye family, the children claim that all of this could have been avoided if Thicke and Williams had approached the family before releasing the single, especially since the similarities were deemed to be not coincidental. "Like most artists, they could have licensed and secured the song for appropriate usage," the family stated. "This did not happen. We would have welcomed a conversation with them before the release of their work. This also did not happen." Read more: Kelly Clarkson talks 'Since U Been Gone,' going country and upbeat new LP . Thicke and Pharrell Williams lost the copyright suit on March 10th. Following the court's decision, the lawyer representing Marvin Gaye's family has sought to halt all sales of "Blurred Lines." Since the proceedings, the family had noted some similarities between Gaye's "Ain't That Peculiar" and Williams' "Happy," though the family has confirmed in the open letter that they "have absolutely no claim whatsoever concerning 'Happy.'" Read the full open letter from Marvin Gaye's children below: . An Open Letter from the Children of Marvin Gaye 3/18/15 . We want to extend our deepest appreciation and gratitude for the outpouring of love and support we have received from all of our father's fans and friends, as well as artists and industry folks who contacted us surrounding the recent events concerning his song, "Got to Give It Up." Your kindness and encouragement gave us incredible strength and perseverance. We are so incredibly grateful for your support as well as the hard work and dedication of our amazing legal team and experts. We thank you all. We especially want to thank our mom Jan for her belief in what we were doing all along, and for her never ending support. We will celebrate what would have been our dad's 76th birthday next month, and though we miss him every day -- just like the many thousands of well-wishers who have expressed their heartfelt goodwill - it is

Summary: Marvin Gaye's children wrote an open letter about the "Blurred Lines" lawsuit . The family recently won its copyright infringement claim against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams . Nona, Frankie and Marvin III say their father would have embraced new technology but safeguarded his creations .


(CNN)Iraqi forces say they've captured key areas in their offensive to take back Tikrit, which has been under ISIS control since June. The security forces, backed by Shia militias, raised the Iraqi flag over the governorate and the main hospital buildings in the city Monday night, a security official with the forces in Tikrit told CNN. The gains, according to the official, came after a slow advance into the city as the forces dealt with more than 300 improvised explosive devices planted in the city's streets. At least 26 militants were killed in the operation, the official said. Earlier Monday, Iraqi federal police said in a statement aired on Iraqi television that the forces had liberated four neighborhoods in southern Tikrit. The renewed push into Tikrit comes days after a series of U.S.-led airstrikes aimed at ISIS targets around the city. The goal of those airstrikes was to pave the way for Iraqi forces to go in. Now security forces and fighters from Hashd Al-Shaabi, a predominantly Shia paramilitary force that has doing much of the fighting in the critical battle to take Tikrit back from ISIS, say they're gaining ground. Iraqi forces have tried multiple times to win back Tikrit since ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State, conquered the city in June as part of its campaign to amass an expansive Islamic caliphate. And each time, so far, they've failed. The latest push began after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on March 1 ordered Iraqi forces to retake Tikrit and Salahuddin province. Militants have been under pressure ever since in the battleground city, which is the birthplace of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and located about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Baghdad. ISIS responded by adjusting its positions in and around the city, hiding in buildings and other key infrastructure, said Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for al-Abadi. This movement led Iraq's military to pause its operation, out of growing worries that a full-on invasion could produce heavy Iraqi military and some civilian casualties. The situation spurred the Iraqi Prime Minister to request help from the U.S.-led coalition, which conducted airstrikes around Tikrit last week. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh, Catherine E. Shoichet, Ashley Fantz, Ben Wedeman and Greg Botelho contributed to this report.

Summary: A push to retake Tikrit stalled as ISIS repositioned its forces around the city . Spokesman: Iraq's leader requested help because coalition has "advanced" capabilities . Leaders of predominantly Shiite militia fighting in area had resisted such intervention .


London (CNN)Best-selling British fantasy author Terry Pratchett has died at the age of 66, his website said Thursday. Pratchett, who wrote more than 70 books, including those in his "Discworld" series, had been diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease in 2007. A statement on the website announced the news of his death at home Thursday with "immeasurable sadness." "I was deeply saddened to learn that Sir Terry Pratchett has died. The world has lost one of its brightest, sharpest minds," said Larry Finlay, managing director at Transworld Publishers. "In over 70 books, Terry enriched the planet like few before him. As all who read him know, 'Discworld' was his vehicle to satirize this world: He did so brilliantly, with great skill, enormous humor and constant invention." Pratchett continued to write following his diagnosis, completing his last book, a new Discworld novel, in the summer of 2014. Revealing his illness in 2007, the author -- who had a strong following among fans of fantasy fiction -- said he had been diagnosed with "a very rare form of early onset Alzheimer's," which he described as "an embuggerance." He said then, "Frankly, I would prefer it if people kept things cheerful, because I think there's time for at least a few more books yet." According to Thursday's statement, he had posterior cortical atrophy, a progressive degenerative condition involving the loss and dysfunction of brain cells, particularly at the back of the brain. The last posts on his verified Twitter account, run by Pratchett with close friend Rob Wilkins, give a poignant farewell -- and have already been retweeted thousands of times. "AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER," the first tweet in the series reads -- an apparent reference to Death, a recurring and generally sympathetic character in the Discworld books, who always speaks in ALL CAPS. "Terry took Death's arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night. "The End." Jeremy Hughes, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, a charitable organization, said Pratchett -- who spoke out publicly about his condition and called for greater funding for Alzheimer's research -- had "fundamentally changed the way dementia is seen and understood." "His vehement determination to reduce the stigma of dementia meant he helped drag it out of the shadows -- kicking and screaming at times," he said. "Shouting from the rooftops about the absurdity of how little funding dementia research receives, and fighting for good quality dementia care, he was and will remain the truest of champions for people with the condition." Pratchett was also a patron of the British Humanist Association, which paid tribute Thursday to the humor and dedication with which the author "turned his suffering into a positive campaign." Pratchett, who began writing while a provincial newspaper journalist in the 1960s, became a full time writer in 1987 and received the Order of the British Empire "for services to literature" from Prince Charles in 1998. People we've lost in 2015 . CNN's Bharati Naik contributed to this report.

Summary: Author Terry Pratchett has died age 66, his website says . "In over 70 books, Terry enriched the planet like few before him," says publisher .


Montabaur, Germany (CNN)Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz's voice isn't heard in a recording of the final moments of Germanwings Flight 9525. But investigators say he was the one at the controls inside the cockpit, deliberately locking out the plane's captain and setting the plane on a crash course for the French Alps. Andreas Lubitz had medical note for day of crash, hid illness, officials say . The only sound the recorder picked up from Lubitz as the Airbus A320 went down, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said, was the co-pilot's steady breathing. Authorities didn't mince words Thursday as they blamed Lubitz for the crash, but questions are still swirling over the 27-year-old's past. Officials say Lubitz passed a psychological test when he was hired, had no known ties to terrorism and showed no sign of medical distress during the flight. It seems, Robin said, that Lubitz "wanted to destroy the aircraft." But why? Lufthansa CEO 'speechless' It's a question police were trying to answer as they searched Lubitz's apartment in Dusseldorf. Police spokesman Markus Niesczery said a team of five investigators went "through the apartment looking for clues as to what the co-pilot's motivation might have been, if he did indeed bring the plane down." About 85 miles (136 km) away in the town of Montabaur, the house where Lubitz's parents live was shuttered and guarded by police. A group of men, perhaps investigators, were the only ones granted access. This town in western Germany is where Lubitz pursued his love of flying from a young age. At a club on the outskirts of Montabaur, pilots who knew Lubitz said they were shocked to hear what investigators said. They said the man they know never would have deliberately crashed a plane. Between the ages of 14 and 20, Lubitz was a regular fixture at the gliding club. "(He was) a very normal young person, full of energy," Klaus Radke said. "What can I say? He had a bright future. He made his hobby into his job. What more can you hope to achieve?" The authorities' explanation doesn't ring true for Peter Ruecker, another pilot who knew him from the flight club. "Knowing Andreas, this is just inconceivable for me," Ruecker told the Reuters news agency. "He was a lot of fun, even though he was perhaps sometimes a bit quiet," Ruecker said. "He was just another boy, like so many others here." A neighbor told Reuters that Lubitz "was very interested in things which are going on around him." "It's a very good family," the neighbor said. "They have a good connection within the family and they are engaged in the community." An 8-minute descent to death . Lubitz had been with Germanwings, a budget airline owned by Lufthansa, since September 2013 and had completed 630 hours of flight time, the airline's media office said. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr told reporters that Lubitz "interrupted" his training, which he began in 2008. That break lasted several months, he said, but added that such an interruption isn't uncommon. Spohr said he couldn't give any information about why

Summary: Police search co-pilot Andreas Lubitz's apartment for clues . A pilot who knew Lubitz calls him a "very normal young person" Investigators say they believe he deliberately crashed Germanwings Flight 9525 .


Tunis, Tunisia (CNN)Thousands of demonstrators marched in Tunisia's capital Sunday, protesting against terrorism less than two weeks after gunmen attacked a museum and killed more than 20 people there. "We came to express our support and to fight this danger that's threatening our society and our stability," said Rafik Abdessalem, Tunisia's former foreign minister, who was among the crowd. "Fortunately, all Tunisians are united here today. We will be able to defeat terrorism, which is threatening Tunisia and all the neighboring countries." As a heavy police presence stood guard, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi marched alongside dignitaries and world leaders, including French President Francois Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who led the crowd to the steps of the Bardo Museum. Protesters held banners that said "We are not afraid" and "Je suis Bardo" as they chanted "Tunisia is free, and out with terrorism." On March 18, the art, culture and history museum was the site of a drastically different scene, as gunmen opened fire on tourists in a siege that also forced the evacuation of the neighboring Parliament. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in an audio message posted online the next day. Hours before Sunday's demonstration began, Tunisia's Prime Minister announced that Algerian national Khaled Shayeb, the alleged architect of the museum assault, was one of nine suspected militants killed in a raid in the south of the country. Arab Spring aftermath: Revolutions give way to violence, more unrest . CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.

Summary: Thousands march in a protest against terrorism in Tunisia's capital . Demonstrators hold signs that say "We are not afraid" and "Je suis Bardo" Tunisia's Prime Minister says a suspect in the Bardo museum attack was killed in a raid .


(CNN)What does 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer have to talk about with World No. 4 Andy Murray? Hairstyles, apparently. Federer crashed the Scot's Q&A Twitter session on Thursday to tease Murray about his lustrous locks, asking "how do you get your hair to be so curly?" with the hashtag "helpabrotherout." Murray joked back: "I don't take as good care of mine as you! I saw you checking your hair out during the photo shoot yesterday #silkysmooth," before posting an image of himself from 2008 with a curly mane, adding "let me know if you ever want to go down this route.. Think it would be good for your image." Earlier this month, Federer suffered some embarrassment of his own when a small boy played a point against the 33-year-old -- outmaneuvering the Swiss legend with a perfect lob at an exhibition match in New York. Both Federer and Murray are competing in the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells this week. Four-time winner Federer is aiming for his 50th match win at the Californian tournament while Murray is looking to improve on his runner-up finish in 2009.

Summary: Tennis legend Roger Federer exchanges hairstyle tips with Andy Murray . The men discuss curls, smoothness and "being worth it" over Twitter . The sport is no stranger to funky hairstyles over the years .


(CNN)The image of the braided Kurdish female fighter, donning military camouflage and taking up arms against the militant group ISIS, may have done more to promote the Kurdish cause in the West than anything else in recent years. The Iraqi Kurds have long been pro-Western in orientation, but Western powers have often only moderately addressed their pleas for support, in part out of fear of empowering the secessionist minority to seek independence. Now, with soccer moms in Middle America tweeting photos of Kurdish female fighters, Western governments may find it harder to explain their tepid Kurdish policies to their constituencies. Jacob Russell's sensitive photo essay brings much-needed nuance to the recent proliferation of images of Kurdish female fighters. Since last summer, international media -- and Kurdish politicians who have recognized the public relations value of the images -- often objectified these women. Images of smiling young female fighters brandishing weapons with a hint of glamour ("girls with guns," as Russell calls this type of portrayal) tend to portray more of the photographer's assumptions about the woman's emancipation than her actual experiences as a Kurdish woman in combat. Russell consciously avoids this uncomplicated portrayal of female fighters. "I was wary of making images that fed into this idea of the heroic strong women fighters," he said. "I think that the female fighters are used quite cynically by Kurdish leaders (who) know very well how attractive this image is to the Western media." Having lived in Kurdistan for nearly two years, Russell understands that many women join the Peshmerga or other Kurdish forces for unglamorous reasons. Many of the women he photographed turned to the Peshmerga to escape abusive marriages or other forms of repression women continue to face there. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. "A lot of the women's backstories were quite difficult," he said. "It seemed like this unit provided an alternative network for women who maybe would struggle in normal Kurdish society, because despite being relatively progressive (within the Middle East), it is still quite a conservative society." Russell explores the theme of sisterhood, and in one image he captures the women in an intimate moment in the back of a pickup truck, their fingers intertwined. That photo, he says, is his favorite from the shoot. "I think that image is one of the more expressive ones that (shows) what really seems to be going on there," he said. "I didn't want to take pictures that conveyed the idea that this was all about hardcore fighters going into battle and killing lots of (ISIS) fighters. That just didn't seem to be the case." Russell remarks that the image of the female fighter carries an important social role, conveying to the world the (relatively) progressive values that Kurds pride themselves on. The women now serve a political role, too. As Western governments eye more military engagement with Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria, these women may boost the Kurds' international standing. Jacob Russell is a photographer based in Lebanon. You can follow him on

Summary: Jacob Russell's intimate photo essay follows Kurdish female fighters . He says the images of these Peshmerga have an important social, political role .


(CNN)With his KISS makeup on, frontman Gene Simmons always looked a little scary. So maybe this new venture makes sense. The rocker and reality-show star is teaming with WWE Studios to launch Erebus Pictures, a label that will finance and produce horror movies. The joint venture kicks off with a three-picture deal starting with "Temple," expected to begin shooting this summer. "The horror genre continues to fascinate me as it proves to be endlessly thrilling and engaging for audiences," said Simmons, who with KISS has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide. Erebus Pictures is named after the Greek mythological deity that personifies darkness. It has a logical marketing platform in the WWE Network, a subscription-based streaming service known for pro-wrestling shows such as "Monday Night Raw" and "SmackDown" that appeal to primarily young male fans, arguably the core of the horror-movie audience. WWE says "Temple" is about a team of highly trained operatives who find themselves trapped inside an isolated military compound after its artificial intelligence is suddenly shut down. While investigating the source of the malfunction, the crew begins to experience strange and horrific phenomena as they try to uncover who or what killed the team previously stationed at the compound. The studio says a director for "Temple" will be announced shortly. Erebus Pictures' second feature will go into production later this year. WWE Studios' most lucrative film has been "The Call," a 2013 thriller starring Halle Berry, which earned $68 million worldwide.

Summary: KISS' Gene Simmons is teaming with WWE Studios to launch Erebus Pictures . First film will be "Temple," about operatives trapped inside an isolated military compound .


(CNN)At first glance Esther Okade seems like a normal 10-year-old. She loves dressing up as Elsa from "Frozen," playing with Barbie dolls and going to the park or shopping. But what makes the British-Nigerian youngster stand out is the fact that she's also a university undergraduate. Esther, from Walsall, an industrial town in the UK's West Midlands region, is one of the country's youngest college freshmen. The talented 10-year-old enrolled at the Open University, a UK-based distance learning college, in January and is already top of the class, having recently scored 100% in a recent exam. "It's so interesting. It has the type of maths I love. It's real maths -- theories, complex numbers, all that type of stuff," she giggles. "It was super easy. My mum taught me in a nice way." She adds: "I want to (finish the course) in two years. Then I'm going to do my PhD in financial maths when I'm 13. I want to have my own bank by the time I'm 15 because I like numbers and I like people and banking is a great way to help people." And in case people think her parents have pushed her into starting university early, Esther emphatically disagrees. "I actually wanted to start when I was seven. But my mum was like, "you're too young, calm down." After three years of begging, mother Efe finally agreed to explore the idea. A marvelous mathematical mind . Esther has always jumped ahead of her peers. She sat her first Math GSCE exam, a British high school qualification, at Ounsdale High School in Wolverhampton at just six, where she received a C-grade. A year later, she outdid herself and got the A-grade she wanted. Then last year she scored a B-grade when she sat the Math A-level exam. Esther's mother noticed her daughter's flair for figures shortly after she began homeschooling her at the age of three. Initially, Esther's parents had enrolled her in a private school but after a few short weeks, the pair began noticing changes in the usually-vibrant youngster. Efe says: "One day we were coming back home and she burst out in tears and she said 'I don't ever want to go back to that school -- they don't even let me talk!' "In the UK, you don't have to start school until you are five. Education is not compulsory until that age so I thought OK, we'll be doing little things at home until then. Maybe by the time she's five she will change her mind." Efe started by teaching basic number skills but Esther was miles ahead. By four, her natural aptitude for maths had seen the eager student move on to algebra and quadratic equations. And Esther isn't the only maths prodigy in the family. Her younger brother Isaiah, 6, will soon be sitting his first A-level exam in June. A philanthropic family . Not content with breaking barriers to attend college at just 10 years old, Esther is also writing a series of math workbooks for children called "Yummy Yummy Algebra." "It

Summary: Esther Okade is a 10-year-old British-Nigerian student . She recently enrolled at the Open University in the UK . Already top of her class scoring 100% in a recent exam . Took A-level exams, a British secondary school qualification, last year .


London, England (CNN)Along the dangerous northeastern border between Kenya and Somalia, a wave of terror has people in fear for their lives. The ongoing threat from the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab means that remote villages and citizens suffer indiscriminate attacks. In the ongoing conflict, women and children remain faceless victims of beatings, rape and unwarranted assaults. But one courageous woman has dedicated herself to protecting these countless victims. Amran Abdundi runs the Frontier Indigenous Network, a group that provides sanctuary, first aid services and valuable health information to numerous displaced women in the region. Last night, Abdundi's inspiring work was recognized at the esteemed Index Freedom of Expression awards in London -- the Kenyan women's rights activist was the winner in the campaign category. CNN's African Voices sat down with the soft spoken and unassuming awards winner, who celebrated her 34th birthday the same day as her win, to discuss her ongoing mission, fighting on in the face of death threats and empowering young girls through education. CNN: What does this honor mean to you? Amran Abdundi: I feel good about winning the award -- I will celebrate with the team when I go back home. But I will continue to do more and more. I hope to show my people how ... to fight for their rights. I want to give [them] the message to look [out] for their futures. CNN: How did you get involved in women's rights along the Kenyan-Somali border? AA: I started working with Frontier Indigenous Network in 2006 -- [back then] we were just two staff and 10 volunteers and [now] there are four staff with 20 volunteers. When I first began, I was just doing it in our village and now I move around all over the place up to the Somali border. On the border, there are many issues women are facing; small girls are raped or beaten, rival clans fight, maybe because of land or because of outsiders. But everyday people are dying. Also there is Al-Shabaab. They come to the border and physically stop people from crossing over into Kenya. You never know who is Al-Shabaab, they look like me and you. But they stop people from crossing the border by beating them. When [refugees] are coming, if they want to cross into Kenya, they have big, big problems. Journalism . Safa al Ahmad, Rafael Marques de Morais (Saudi Arabia, Angola) Arts . Mouad Belghouat aka El Haqed (Morocco) Digital activism . Freedom of information website Atlatszo.hu, managed by Tamas Bodoky (Hungary) Campaigning . Amran Abdundi (Kenya) CNN: Through your organization, you've set up shelters along the border and provide relief and medical assistance to refugees. AA: Yes, when we see them or hear they are suffering there, I go in and find them. We take them to Dadaab [the largest refugee camp in the region]. If I take them to the refugee camp, they will get the assistance there. For the ones who have been beaten or raped, I organize for medical assistance. CNN: And how many women are crossing the

Summary: Amran Abdundi wins the campaigning category at 2015 Index Freedom of Expression awards . Honored for her work helping victims of rape and conflict along Kenya-Somalia border .


(CNN)Pleading innocence, immunity and ignorance, the city of Cleveland responded to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Tamir Rice's family by saying the 12-year-old's death was his own fault. In November, Cleveland Officer Timothy Loehmann fired the fatal shots at Tamir within two seconds of arriving outside a recreation center where the sixth-grader was playing with a pellet gun. In the 41-page response to the family's lawsuit filed Friday, the city says that Tamir's injuries "were directly and proximately caused by the failure of Plaintiffs' decedent to exercise due care to avoid injury." The response further says that "Plaintiffs' decedent's injuries, losses, and damages complained of, were directly and proximately caused by the acts of Plaintiffs' decedent, not this Defendant." The city also claims it is entitled to all "full and qualified" immunities under state and federal law. As to the scores of other allegations in the lawsuit, the city responds by saying that they are untrue, that the independent investigation by Cuyahoga County is still going on, or that the city "is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth." Cuyahoga County's medical examiner has ruled the death a homicide but has issued no determination as to whether the events that caused the boy's death constitute a crime. Cleveland authorities have repeatedly said that Loehmann mistook Tamir's fake gun for a real one. A witness called 911 on November 22 to say there was "a guy with a pistol" and that although the weapon was "probably" fake, Tamir was scaring people. It doesn't appear the dispatcher relayed the information to Loehmann and Officer Frank Garmback. Video of the incident shows the two pull up on the snowy grass near a gazebo where Tamir is standing. Within two seconds of exiting the police car, Loehmann shoots the 12-year-old. The boy died the next day of injuries to "a major vessel, intestines and pelvis." In the video, neither Loehmann nor Garmback appears to provide medical assistance to the boy, and Police Chief Calvin Williams has said that Tamir did not receive first aid until an FBI agent arrived on the scene four minutes later. An attorney for the Rice family says the city's response to the lawsuit is indicative of well-documented problems within the Cleveland Police Department. "The Rice family maintains that Tamir was shot and killed unnecessarily by Cleveland police officers," Rice family co-counsel Walter Madison said in a statement. "Their tactics that preceded his death and the subsequent victim blaming are examples of the institutionalized behavior that has beset the Cleveland Police Department. The Rice family's lawsuit seeks to eliminate certain institutional behaviors and practices that have no place in our diverse community." Rice family co-counsel Benjamin Crump said the family was "just in disbelief" after reading the response. Crump went on to attack the police department's assertion, put forth in December, that Loehmann gave Tamir three verbal commands to put his hands up. "It is just incredible that the police officer, based on what we see on the video surveillance recording, gave Tamir three verbal

Summary: Cleveland: Tamir Rice died because he failed "to exercise due care to avoid injury" A police officer killed Tamir, 12, last year as the boy played with a pellet gun . Officers mistook fake gun for a real one, Cleveland Police Department has said .


Hong Kong (CNN)"Go back home!" "Locusts! You're not welcome here!" These were just some of the insults hurled at Chinese shoppers Sunday as hundreds of Hong Kongers surged through through the old neighborhood of Yuen Long, an area close to the city's border with China. It was the latest in a series of angry protests that have seen brawls erupt in humdrum shopping malls, with demonstrators singling out the "parallel traders" who crowd into Hong Kong to purchase tax-free products and then resell them for a profit back in China. "I've grown up here, and ever since a lot of the Chinese started coming into Hong Kong, things have changed," said Suen, a law student who only gave her surname. Clad in a mask to protect against police wielding pepper spray, she took part in the protest with her mother. Local residents say the traders are not only disturbing the peace, but are driving up the price of food, rent, and gutting local neighborhoods of their character - the city has become a blur of jewelers, pharmacies and other businesses that cater primarily to Chinese shoppers. "Previously there were a lot of indigenous places like restaurants, but all of them have closed," said Suen, standing across from a store selling baby milk powder - the top item on many Chinese tourists' shopping lists. "It's very difficult to be very welcoming." Tensions have long been simmering between Hong Kong and the motherland, and parallel trading is just one of the thorny issues brought about by the influx of mainland Chinese to the city. A series of food scandals -- most notably in 2008 when melamine-tainted milk powder caused infant deaths across China -- led to shortages of baby milk formula in Hong Kong as Chinese flocked to buy up the city's supplies. The ensuing uproar led the government to introduce a law limiting the purchase to two tins per traveler leaving the city. Last year, 31 million Chinese visitors traveled to Hong Kong, accounting for 78% of all tourists, according to the government. But the numbers hide that the visitors aren't all sightseeing tourists in the traditional sense. There are the day-trippers, wheeling suitcases and carting boxes of goods and supplies across the border, but there is also an increasing number of wealthy mainland Chinese who are buying up luxury properties, and visit the city on a regular basis. According to the Global Property Guide, developers say as much as 40% of new home buyers are from China. Residents blame them for causing a hike in real estate prices in what reports say is already the most expensive property market in the world. Both the Chinese and Hong Kong government have encouraged mainland tourists to visit the city and boost the local economy. Relaxed restrictions have made it easy for Chinese residents to get a hold of individual multiple-entry permits -- some mainlanders enter hundreds of times a year on a single pass. This has infuriated protestors, particularly the younger generation, who want the government to scrap the permits. In a speech last

Summary: Hong Kong protests highlight rift between the city and mainland China . Residents say massive influx of Chinese has disturbed peace, and driven up prices . But the protests points at a deeper issue about Hong Kong identity .


Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN)Nepal's only international airport remains closed two days after a Turkish Airlines plane skidded off the tarmac and blocked the airport's only runway. Officials said Tribhuvan International would reopen at 10 a.m. local time Saturday as preparations to move the plane continue. "We do not know now if it will take longer than then to move the plane," Purna Chudal, manager of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, told CNN. More then 160 flights have been canceled since Wednesday's incident, leaving more than 24,000 passengers stranded as officials struggle to remove the immobile Airbus A330 off the runway, Chudal said. The timing of the incident is problematic for Nepal's tourism industry, which is gearing up for the 2015 climbing season. Foreigners heading to Mount Everest and other nearby peaks in the Himalayan Mountains transit through the airport. The authority initially said it would reopen the airport at 10 a.m. Friday, later revising that to 5 p.m., but workers were unable to remove the aircraft by that time. They were able to lift the plane's nose -- originally pitched down -- and change its tires. The main challenge now is to push the grass-grounded plane back onto the runway. Officials say the area under the plane needs to be firmed up -- a process that involves digging into the ground and filling it with gravel -- before push back can commence. The Turkish Airways incident didn't result in any major injuries but the plane has remained aground as Nepal doesn't have the necessary equipment to move it. Cargo planes were unable to fly in heavy-duty machinery because there was nowhere to land. A specialized aircraft carrying experts and aircraft removal equipment from India reportedly arrived on Thursday. Tribhuvan airport is usually closed between midnight and 6 a.m. but will remain open for 24 hours for the next few days until the backlog is cleared. More than 12,000 people fly in and out of the airport daily. The facility services about 80 international flights per day. Domestic service -- operated by by 18 and 40-seater jets -- was not disrupted. Journalist Manesh Shrestha reported from Kathmandu and CNN's Maggie Hiufu Wong wrote this story from Hong Kong.

Summary: Services at Nepal's only international airport disrupted for the third day by a stranded plane . Turkish Airlines plane skidded off the runway and has remained aground since Wednesday . Over 24,000 passengers and 160 planes affected by the closure .


(CNN)Angelina Jolie's decision to remove her breasts and ovaries to prevent cancer (as she detailed in today's New York Times op-ed) might sound extreme, but breast cancer experts say she was spot on. "I understand what Angelina Jolie did, and I would have done it, too," said Dr. Otis Brawley, the chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. Brawley said if he were Jolie's doctor he would have advised her to do what she did because her mother, aunt, and grandmother all had ovarian cancer, and her mother had breast cancer as well. Plus, Jolie has a gene that gives her about an 87% chance of getting breast cancer sometime in her life. "She has one of the particularly bad breast cancer genes," Brawley said. The decision is made even easier by advances in breast reconstruction and by hormone treatments that help ease women into menopause, which is induced by removing the ovaries. The ovary surgery was a no-brainer, doctors say, and some wondered why she didn't do it sooner. In her op-ed, Jolie explained that every year she's had a blood test called CA-125, to monitor for ovarian cancer. But that test often has false positives and false negatives, said Dr. Dr. Funmi Olopade, director of the Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics at the University of Chicago. "You really can't rely on it," she said. Instead of screening, experts in cancer genetics recommend that women at a very high risk for ovarian cancer, like Jolie, remove their ovaries as soon as they're done having children. "I can't emphasize enough how important this is," Olopade said. Olopade was glad to hear Tuesday morning that Jolie had decided to move forward. "What she's done is really important to save her life, because there's no way to detect ovarian cancer," she said. Jolie's decision about her breasts (also documented in an op-ed), however, is not so clear cut, Olopade explained, because it would have been perfectly acceptable if Jolie had decided to keep her breasts and to get regular MRIs instead. "We have lots of survivors who went that route, and they've done well," she said. Some made the decision to keep their breasts because they couldn't afford a good plastic surgeon for breast reconstruction, she added. "Celebrities have access to that kind of surgery, but that's not the life everyone lives," Olopade said. Brawley added that Jolie's decision likely wouldn't be right for someone with a different kind of breast cancer gene mutation. For example, some women have a mutation that gives them a 15% chance of getting breast cancer in their lifetime. That's not much higher than the 12% chance a woman has of getting breast cancer even if she has no mutation at all. He says he worries that some of these women with just a slightly increased risk will hear about Jolie's decision and want to remove their breasts, too. "To get surgery in their situation is really overkill," he said. "Most of these women would be just fine if they took tamoxifen for five years and got regular

Summary: Jolie has a gene that gives her an 87% chance of getting breast cancer . Experts in cancer genetics recommend that women in a similar situation remove their ovaries as soon as they're done having children .


London (CNN)An investigation is underway after a canine competitor died the day after taking part in Crufts, one of the world's most prestigious dog shows. An autopsy indicates he was poisoned. Three-year-old Irish setter Thendara Satisfaction -- known to his owners as Jagger -- took second prize in his class at the event in Birmingham, central England, on Thursday. But just a day later, after returning home to Belgium, he became ill. Owner-breeder Dee Milligan-Bott told CNN Jagger was "finding it hard to breathe" so a veterinarian was called, but the dog died before he could get there. "The vet thought it was suspicious, so carried out an autopsy," she said. "They found cubes of beef in his stomach that had at least two types of poison inside. Pieces of beef had been stitched together so that the poison didn't come out. "He had enough in his system to kill a horse, according to the vet," said Milligan-Bott, who is at a loss to explain why Jagger was targeted: "We can't fathom why anyone would do this." "I've been doing this for 30-odd years and I think I would have to give up on everything if I believed that someone who shows and breeds dogs would kill a dog. We all do this because we love dogs. If you hate me for being successful, then stick a brick through my window or something. But why would you involve a dog?" Toxicology tests are being carried out. The vet has reported the dog's death to Belgian police, and Milligan-Bott said she would likely contact West Midlands Police in the UK too. A spokesperson for the Kennel Club, organizers of the Crufts dog show, said there had never been such an incident in the history of the competition, which dates back to 1891. "We are deeply shocked and saddened to hear this terrible news and our heartfelt sympathies go out to Jagger's owners," said Caroline Kisko, secretary of the Kennel Club, in a statement. "We understand that a toxicology report is due next week and that this matter has been reported to the police - we will work with them and help however we can." Television personality and writer Clare Balding, who hosts TV coverage of Crufts in the UK, took to Twitter to express her shock at the news: "Everyone at #Crufts2015 horrified at death of Irish Setter Jagger & post-mortem found poison. Awful for all concerned," she tweeted.

Summary: Three-year-old Irish setter Jagger died suddenly after competing at Crufts dog show . An autopsy revealed poison sewn into cubes of beef in his stomach . "We can't fathom why anyone would do this," owner-breeder Dee Milligan-Bott tells CNN .


(CNN)What a difference a couple of years makes. A federal judge has struck down Nebraska's ban on same-sex marriage, calling it an "unabashedly gender-specific infringement of the equal rights of its citizens." U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon's decision Monday means that same-sex marriage is now against the law in fewer than one in four states. Nebraska state officials immediately appealed the ruling to the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Bataillon denied a state request to stay his decision. And so, beginning Monday the state must "treat same-sex couples the same as different sex couples" when it comes to marriage rights, the federal injunction reads. As the dominoes fall in favor of same-sex marriages, the question now seems to be which state will be the last? The number of states offering same-sex marriages has surged since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in 2013 that invalidated part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. States like Illinois, Hawaii, Minnesota and New York joined the fold voluntarily, while others -- most recently Nebraska and Alabama -- were ordered by state or federal judges to offer and recognize the unions. The case involving Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee is expected to be decided sometime in June by the U.S. Supreme Court. Here's the situation in the 12 states that currently ban same-sex marriages: . The state's constitutional ban on gay marriage, passed in 2004, was struck down twice last year -- once by a state court judge and again by a U.S. District Court judge. Local officials issued some 400 marriage licenses following the state court decision, but the state Supreme Court blocked the issuance of more licenses pending its review of the case. A decision could come soon. Georgia is one of just two states with no legislative action or pending legal decisions whatsoever on same-sex marriage. The other is North Dakota. However, lawsuits are pending to overturn the state's 2004 ban. The state's ban is being challenged in state court, where a judge last year ruled the law is unconstitutional, and in federal court, where a U.S. District Court judge took the rare step, for a federal judge, of backing such a ban. The ban remains in place pending Louisiana's appeal of the state court ruling. On the federal level, a ruling is pending out of the U.S Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which heard arguments in the case in January. Last year, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the state's constitutional amendment banning gay marriages had no "legitimate purpose." The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit later overturned the ruling, reinstating gay marriage bans in Kentucky and four other states. The Kentucky ban is part of the U.S. Supreme Court case scheduled for arguments in April and a decision by June. A U.S. District Court judge ruled last year that the state's same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional, resulting in the issuance of more than 300 marriage licenses. That ended when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit granted a stay. The court later reinstated Michigan's

Summary: 12 states do not allow same-sex marriages . The U.S. Supreme Court could settle the issue for good when it rules this year .


(CNN)As many as 13 senior leaders of al-Nusra Front, including the terror group's military commander, were killed in two Syrian airstrikes Thursday, a Middle Eastern security source who was briefed by Syrian intelligence told CNN. Abu Hammam al Shami was among those killed in the strikes against al-Nusra, al Qaeda's largest affiliate in Syria, the source said. Syria's state news agency SANA also reported al Shami's death. The special operation that took place in Hobait, in Idlib province, was part of a wider effort by Syrian forces to destroy areas believed to be gathering points for al-Nusra militants around the province, according to SANA. According to a 2014 al-Nusra video, al Shami joined the group after years of training in Afghanistan and Iraq. Also killed in the northwestern province of Idlib was a senior Saudi operative in the group, the source said. There were initial indications that al-Nusra leader Abu Mohammed al Jolani was wounded in one of the strikes, the source said Thursday. But on Friday, the source told CNN the latest assessment of Syrian intelligence was that al Jolani was not injured. The strikes took place in the towns of Salqin and Hobait, both near the city of Saraqeb in Idlib. One strike targeted a meeting of senior al-Nusra Front leaders; the other was on a home being used as a base, the source said. A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition that is hitting ISIS targets in Syria said its planes weren't involved. "Within the last 24 hours, we have not conducted any airstrikes within 200 miles of the province of Idlib," the spokesman said earlier Thursday. Al Shami was featured in a March 2014 video released by al-Nusra Front, in which he discussed his failed attempt to mediate between his militants and ISIS after rising tensions between the groups. The video included a biography by the group of al Shami, which was translated by the Long War Journal. It said that in the late 1990s, al Shami traveled to Afghanistan, where he was trained in a camp run by Abu Musab al Suri, a veteran Syrian jihadi strategist. Al Shami then trained in al Qaeda camps, where he met one of the 9/11 hijackers and personally swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden. By the time of the 9/11 attacks, al Shami had started to train recruits in Afghanistan and was named as the head of the Syrian jihadist contingent within al Qaeda. After the fall of the Taliban, he fled Afghanistan with senior Egyptian al Qaeda operative Sayf al Adel, the group said in the video. Al Shami began operating in Iraq, where he began working with al Qaeda in Iraq founder Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, conducting training for the group during the Iraqi insurgency, the al-Nusra video stated. In 2005, al Shami returned to Afghanistan for a short period, at the request of al Qaeda's leadership. When he got to the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, one of bin Laden's top deputies, Attiyah Abd al Rahman, tasked al Shami with leading al Qaeda efforts in Syria, but he was arrested as he

Summary: One of the 13 senior leaders killed was the al Qaeda affiliate's military commander, the source says . The special operation was part of a wider effort by Syrian forces around Idlib province .


(CNN)"Breast is best" -- you could call it a mantra of sorts that sums up much of today's research on breastfeeding. Not only does breastfeeding have clear short-term benefits, such as protection from infectious diseases and a reduction in mortality, it's also been shown to be associated with an increase in intelligence. Prior studies have shown an increase of up to 7.5 IQ points in elementary age children who were breastfed, as well as an increase in verbal, performance and comprehensive IQ in adults. The latest addition to this perspective is a long-term study of infants born in Pelotas, Brazil, in 1982. Published in Lancet, the study interviewed 5,914 new mothers about their plans for breastfeeding and then followed up to see how they did. "Information on breastfeeding duration was collected very close to the time when weaning happened, so we had a very precise information on the duration of breastfeeding," said study author, Dr. Bernardo Lessa Horta, in a podcast on Lancet. What makes this study unique is that it followed the subjects all the way to age 30. "We were able to follow about 68% of the participants, which is a very good follow-up rate," said Lessa Horta. "We observed that breastfeeding was positively associated with performance and intelligence at 30 years old, as well as with education, school achievement and higher monthly incomes." In fact, Lessa Horta said the subjects who had been breastfed for 12 months or longer had a higher IQ (about 3.7 points), more years of education and earned roughly 20% more than the average income level. "It's suggesting that the positive effect of breastfeeding on IQ leads to a higher income," he said. "This is our main finding at this moment." One possible reason for the advantage of breast milk, Lessa Horta added, is that it is "rich in long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids which are important to brain growth and development." Called LCPUFA for short, these essential fatty acids are found in salmon and shellfish and have been added to infant formulas since the 1990s. However, the benefit to mental or psychomotor development from adding LCPUFA to infant formula is unclear. Because the study did not measure home life, intellectual stimulation or bonding between mother and child, it was not able to tease out whether these factors may have also contributed to the increase in IQ. That leaves it open to critics, such as Texas A&M Professor Joan Wolf, author of "Is Breast Best? "This study does not address the very real possibility that mothers who choose to breastfeed, regardless of income or education, distinguish themselves from those who bottle-feed in all kinds of ways that are likely to promote intelligence," Wolf wrote CNN. For Lessa Horta, the implications of his study are clear: "The finding supports the promotion of breastfeeding. It's more evidence that besides the clear short term benefits, breastfeeding also has long term consequences in terms of human potential."

Summary: Long-term study finds that IQ at age 30 was nearly 4 points higher for babies breastfed for a year or more . Study conducted in Brazil also associates longer breastfeeding with higher income and education levels . Critic points out that the study doesn't account for other possible contributing factors .


(CNN)Fifty years after its premiere, "The Sound of Music" is still among millions of fans' favorite things. The Julie Andrews film, about the von Trapp family and its "problem" governess, Maria, is beloved enough to have spawned audience singalongs. The performers who played the von Trapp children remain close, doing joint interviews and publishing a book. The film even prompted a live NBC musical, which -- though it was roasted by critics -- still managed stupendous ratings. Of course, there remains one notable dissenter: Christopher Plummer, who has long had a grudging opinion of perhaps his most famous role. "It was so awful and sentimental and gooey," he told the Hollywood Reporter in 2011. That may have been its charm. The movie, which premiered on March 2, 1965, went on to earn five Oscars -- including best picture -- and grossed more than $110 million in its initial run, equal to about $800 million in today's money. That made it one of the most successful movies of all time at the box office, up there with "Gone With the Wind," and it wasn't truly surpassed until "The Godfather" came out in 1972. It even helped save 20th Century Fox two years after the studio's debacle with "Cleopatra." No wonder the Mad magazine parody was called "The Sound of Money." So, what ever happened to Liesl, Friedrich, Greta and all the rest? Click the gallery to find out. You'll find it's "Something Good."

Summary: "The Sound of Music" celebrates 50th anniversary on March 2 . Film is widely beloved, was one of biggest hits of all time .


(CNN)A California man accused of trying to travel to Syria to join ISIS was indicted Wednesday, charged with attempting to support terror and other counts. Adam Dandach, 21, of Orange, California, was arrested July 3 and initially charged in a complaint of making false statements on a passport application with plans to fly from Orange County's John Wayne Airport to Istanbul, Turkey, and eventually reach Syria, the FBI said. Dandach was initially indicted in July on charges of making the false statements, and he pleaded not guilty, authorities said. But on Wednesday, a superseding indictment accused Dandach of attempting to provide himself and material support to work under the direction and control of ISIS, the FBI said. The new indictment accuses him of lying when applying for a replacement passport and then presenting the passport to an airline employee to travel to Istanbul, the FBI in Los Angeles said. Dandach is also accused of trying to obstruct the investigation by instructing a website administrator to delete his post history, authorities said. Virginia teen accused of being ISIS recruiter . Dandach, who is also known as "Fadi Fadi Dandach," is scheduled to be arraigned March 16. Dandach and his attorney couldn't be immediately reach for comment Wednesday. He is charged with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to a terror group; two counts of making of a false statement on a passport application to facilitate international terrorism; and one count of obstruction of justice, authorities said. "If convicted of all the charges in the indictment, Dandach would face a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison for the material support charge, up to 25 years for each of the two passport fraud charges, and a statutory maximum of 25 years for obstruction of justice offense," the FBI said in a statement. CNN's Rosalina Nieves contributed to this report.

Summary: Adam Dandach, 21, of Orange, California, was arrested July 3 . He was initially indicted on charges of making false statements on a passport application . The new superseding indictment accuses Dandach of attempting to assist the terror group ISIS .


(CNN)How do Republicans try to breathe new life into an old scandal? We've seen it time and time again. Here's how it works: . Step One: Republicans, with nothing in their arsenal to use against Hillary Clinton, selectively leak to reporters a "scandalous" tidbit -- often one that has been previously reported. Step Two: The new media bites. Step Three: The media hyperventilates and suffocates the airwaves with repetition of the same story. Step Four: Upon further examination, the story falls apart. This is exactly how the latest media hype, this time over Hillary Clinton's use of emails at the State Department, has played out. And it presents yet another chapter in the Benghazi hoax. The New York Times story about Hillary Clinton's use of a private email account at the State Department is a perfect example of "gotcha" journalism, where reporters will take any bait the Republicans give them without proper vetting. The New York Times has a history of this. (Whitewater, anyone?) The Times story suggests Secretary Clinton broke federal rules in relation to her email. But the Times' main source for this allegation says Clinton violated no laws. Yes, Clinton used a private email account to communicate while she was secretary of state. But so did secretaries of state before her. According to the State Department spokesman Marie Harf, John Kerry is the first secretary of state ever to rely primarily on official State Department email. Clinton asks State to release emails: What you need to know . In October 2014, 18 months after Clinton left, the State Department was engaged in the process of updating its records preservation policies. The State Department asked every secretary of state dating back to Madeleine Albright to provide records, including emails, from their time in office. Clinton responded to the State Department's request for emails, providing the department with over 55,000 pages of emails. She did so months ago. Clinton has been fully transparent and has asked the State Department for these emails to be made public. Republican investigators seeking to hype the current Benghazi investigation leaked the issue to keep a dying investigation alive. And once again, reporters bit. In the days since The New York Times posted its story, there have been dozens and dozens of stories written on the topic. Why? Because the Clintons are held to a double standard when it comes to media scrutiny. Their perfectly usual, above board behavior is spun as secretive and unaccountable -- while Republicans are left relatively unscathed. Mitt Romney used his private email account to discuss political business, and when he left the governor's office, his administration destroyed records rather than turn them over to state archives. Scott Walker's County Executive's office used a secret email system, which investigators determined was being used to engage in campaign work on county time and to avoid public records disclosure laws. Mike Huckabee's office had files, including emails, cleaned and physically destroyed, including "travel records, calendars, call logs, and emails." Why hasn't their behavior been scrutinized over and over again? Because their last name

Summary: David Brock: The story is another example of GOP efforts to create a phony controversy . Hillary Clinton's email practices didn't break the law, he says .


(CNN)There were three Selma to Montgomery marches in March 1965, and Rosa Parks had missed the first one. Parks, whose act of civil disobedience sparked the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955, moved to Detroit two years later for safety reasons. Death threats, in Alabama, were too much for her to endure. For eight years, Parks, a working-class woman, toiled at the Stockton Sewing Co. in Michigan, making dishrags, for low wages. But on March 1, 1965, she abruptly quit to join U.S. Rep. John Conyers' staff in Detroit. The voting rights movement in the South, led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., coupled with the assassination of Malcolm X that February, had re-energized her appetite for direct political action. On Sunday, March 7, Parks was at home in Detroit watching the ABC television premiere of "Judgment at Nuremberg" when the broadcast was suddenly interrupted by a news flash from Selma, Alabama. A peaceful throng of voting rights activists had marched onto the steel-arched Edmund Pettus Bridge that spanned the Alabama River, only to be brutally assaulted by police and Alabama state troopers, most of them wearing gas masks. Before being arrested and beaten these protesters had been headed to the state capital in Montgomery, a distance of 54 miles, to demand federal protection of blacks' right to vote. That Sunday afternoon, 25-year-old John Lewis, then chairman of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and today a U.S. congressman from Georgia's 5th District, had been tear-gassed and billy clubbed as he tried to cross the bridge. The sight of him being beaten sickened Parks. Lewis had emerged as the bravest and youngest of the major civil rights leaders of the Kennedy-Johnson era, even speaking at the March on Washington in 1963. As a Freedom Rider in the South, he was arrested 24 times, and proud of it. Therefore on March 9, to protest "Bloody Sunday," as the incident became known, Parks walked down Detroit's wide Woodward Avenue in full solidarity with Brother Lewis and the others arrested in Selma. "The Edmund Pettus Bridge for me was wrought in symbolism," Parks recalled years later. "The photos taken that day made me think of the bridge as a battlefield, like at Lexington and Concord. It was the start of a turning point." So when King -- who had been in Atlanta for "Bloody Sunday" -- telegrammed Parks about returning to Alabama to take part in a third mass march from Selma to Montgomery, her immediate answer was "Why, of course." Once back in Montgomery in late March at King's request, Parks looked around to see what had changed since the '50s. "One of the first things I did was look at the buses," she told me in 1997. "And yes -- they were integrated. ... That felt good." On March 25, Parks, the "Mother of the Movement," spoke eloquently in Montgomery though her soft voice was barely audible over the crackling speakers. Per usual, King stole the show that day with a rousing piece of oratory. "We are on the move," the Nobel Peace Prize-winning preacher

Summary: Ceremonies attended by President Obama to mark march's 50th anniversary over bridge . Douglas Brinkley: Site where voting rights battle was fought should be named for John Lewis .


(CNN)Lee Kuan Yew will forever be remembered as the man who transformed a mosquito-ridden colonial trading post into a prosperous financial center with clean streets, shimmering skyscrapers and a stable government. Born in 1923, Lee became Prime Minister in 1959 when Singapore, a tiny spit of land with no natural resources and a polyglot population of Chinese, Malays and Indians, was still British territory and beset by riots and unrest. He presided over Singapore's bitter split from Malaysia in 1965 and molded the independent country into the global economic powerhouse it is today. "I was trying to create, in a third-world situation, a first-world oasis," Lee told CNN in 2008. READ MORE: Obama: 'Lee a visionary' Lee's thinking also had an international impact. His brand of capitalism -- which stresses the role of government rather than the free hand of the market -- has provided a blueprint for China's landmark economic reforms. But Lee was also a divisive figure, attracting criticism for stifling media freedom and for the harsh treatment of political opponents. In 2013, protests over plans to allow more immigrants into the city-state indicated growing unease among Singaporeans about the vision of the country set forth by the People's Action Party -- the party co-founded by Lee that has ruled Singapore for five decades. Lee voluntarily stepped down as Prime Minister in 1990, the first Asian strongman to do so. However, he played a role in the country's Cabinet until 2011 when his eldest son, Lee Hsien Loong, was elected for a second term as prime minister. The elder Lee retained his influence around the world. "This is one of the legendary figures of Asia in the 20th and 21st centuries," U.S. President Barack Obama said during a meeting with Lee at the White House in October 2009. "He is somebody who helped to trigger the Asian economic miracle," Obama added. But there were indications Lee's health had been slipping in recent years. In 2010 he was admitted to the hospital with a chest infection and in early 2013, Lee -- then 89 -- was hospitalized and treated treated for "stroke-like symptoms." He was again admitted to the hospital on February 5 for severe pneumonia and more than six weeks later remained on a ventilator. A fourth-generation Singaporean, Lee's family originally emigrated from southern China. A bright student, he gained a place in the city's elite Raffles Institution and went on to study law at Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge. He attributed his decision to go into politics to his experiences during the Japanese occupation of Singapore. "I learned how people survived and how people had to submit because you need to eat and your family needs to live, so I learned the meaning of power," he told CNN in 2002. The city Lee took control of in 1959 was still recovering from the ravages of war and could not have been more different from today's Singapore. However, Lee told CNN he had no "great vision of transformation." He concentrated on attracting investment and creating jobs; first finding a successful niche

Summary: Lee Kuan Yew became Prime Minister in 1959 . He presided over Singapore's bitter split from Malaysia in 1965 . Lee faced criticism for stifling media freedom and the harsh treatment of political opponents .


(CNN)Riders on a New York roller coaster took the long way down Sunday after Coney Island's historic Cyclone got stuck in its track on opening day. No one was injured in the mishap, which occurred about noon during the first run because of an "isolated mechanical issue," a Luna Park spokeswoman said. The park's operations team helped each passenger down "one by one," and the ride was closed the rest of the day for repairs, spokeswoman Erica Hoffman said. "Safety is the number one priority for our guests here at Luna Park," Hoffman said. "Nobody was injured, and those on the ride were safely evacuated and will be able to come ride again for free when it is open again." Images and videos shared on social media showed people slowly walking down the 88-year-old wooden roller coaster. "That thing was the scariest thing I ever did," 24-year-old David Zubin told amNY of the walk down. "The bricks, walking down, looked like it was going to break when you stepped on it." Steven Hernandez was waiting in line when the coaster got stuck. He and others watched in suspense, taking photos and video on their smartphones, as riders carefully climbed down stairs alongside the track. The 22-year-old from Brooklyn said he shows up for opening day at Luna Park every year. He heads straight to the Cyclone to be among the first 100 people who get to ride for free, he said. "People were trying to figure out why the Cyclone got stuck at the top," he said. "I go there every year, (and) that never happened." The Cyclone opened on June 26, 1927, during Coney Island's heyday as one of country's largest recreation areas. With more than 2,640 feet of track featuring 12 drops and 27 elevation changes, the Cyclone was long considered the standard against which "compact wooden twisters" were measured. An official New York City Landmark since July 12, 1988, Cyclone was listed in the New York State Register of Historic Places on June 31, 1991, according to NYC.com. Its status help preserve its spot in Coney Island after the Astroland amusement park closed in 2008 and reopened as Luna Park in 2009. See images of the situation . Hernandez received a complimentary ticket for his next ride after the park operators closed the ride for repairs. He looks forward to using it; the incident won't deter him from returning to the Cyclone, he said. "I've been riding that ride since I was 14," he said. "I love it." CNN's David Shortell contributed to this report.

Summary: No injuries reported after Coney Island roller coaster gets stuck in track . Says one rider of the walk down: "That thing was the scariest thing I ever did"


(CNN)A man who says he's Mohammed Emwazi's father has reportedly said there is no proof that his son is the masked ISIS killer known as "Jihadi John." "There is nothing that proves what is being circulated in the media, especially through video clips and footage, that the accused is my son Mohammed, who is being referred to as the alleged executioner" of ISIS, Jassem Emwazi told the Kuwaiti newspaper al Qabas. Jassem Emwazi said there are only "false rumors" circulating about his son. The elder Emwazi told the newspaper he has hired an attorney. The lawyer, Kuwait-based Salem Al-Hashash, told CNN on Tuesday that he was representing Jassem Emwazi and planned to file lawsuits against anyone who has claimed that Mohammed Emwazi is Jihadi John. The lawyer called the father a "victim of libel" and said that he would soon hold a news conference. Last week, two U.S. officials and two U.S. congressional sources confirmed to CNN that "Jihadi John" is Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born Londoner. Jassem Emwazi's statements to al Qabas appear to contradict reports this week that his wife recognized Jihadi John's voice as her son's when she saw footage that shows the man, whose face is covered, brandishing a knife and threatening ISIS hostages. Emwazi told British newspaper The Guardian that the stories about the couple recognizing the voice were false. "Lie, lie, lie," he reportedly said. Mohammed Emwazi was born in Kuwait in 1988 and moved to the United Kingdom with his parents and sister when he was six, according to CAGE, an advocacy group for people suspected of involvement in terrorism. CAGE interacted with Emwazi before he joined the terror group, a member has said. CAGE released a recording last week that it said it taped of Mohammed Emwazi in 2009. In that recording, Emwazi is heard talking about been questioned by British intelligence service regarding a July 2005 terror attack in London. CNN's Samira Said, Roba Alhenawi and Nic Robertson contributed to this report.

Summary: Jassem Emwazi's attorney tells CNN he will sue people who say son is "Jihadi John" Kuwaiti newspaper: Father of Mohammed Emwazi attacks "false rumors" about his son .


(CNN)Before this week, David Boren didn't need to add to his resume. It was impressive enough already. The 73-year-old University of Oklahoma president was also a former governor, former U.S. senator and Rhodes scholar. Boren has become the face of the school's stand against racism after a highly visible and passionate condemnation of a video that appears to show Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity members chanting a racial epitaph. It started with a bullhorn at a campus rally. "I have a message for those who have misused their freedom of speech in this way. My message to them is: You're disgraceful. You have violated every principle that this university stands for." It continued with a press conference, saying fraternity members had until midnight Tuesday to get out of their house. "The house will be closed, and as far as I'm concerned, they won't be back," Boren said, adding that the university is exploring what actions it can take against individual fraternity members. And it extended to network television. "Sooners are not racists. They're not bigots," Boren told CNN in one of his many public reprimands. "They are people who respect each other and care about each other." Boren spent nearly 30 years in elected office before becoming the 13th president of the University of Oklahoma in 1994. He was a U.S. senator from 1979 to 1994, where he was the longest serving chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Before that, he served four years as Oklahoma's governor. He campaigned as a reformer, with a broom as his symbol, and when elected, he became the youngest governor in the state. He was 33 at the time. Boren is the first person in Oklahoma history to have served all three positions, according to his university biography. Boren graduated from Yale University in 1963, in the top one percent of his class. He was selected as a Rhodes scholar and earned a master's degree in politics, philosophy and economics from Oxford University, England, in 1965. Boren received his law degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1968. Both his father, Lyle, and his son, Dan, served in the U.S. House of Representatives. Zero tolerance is the only answer to racism, Boren said. Not just for the school, but the nation. "It's not just the Greek system, it's not just colleges and universities. It's Ferguson, Missouri. All sorts of elements of our society are involved," he said. For now, Boren said the school is looking into punishing the individuals involved, especially any of those who led the chants. "We're trying to determine if we have enough evidence and if we can meet the federal standards to prevail in court, and, if so, we'll take action," Boren said. "This is not a place that wants racists or bigots on our campus or will tolerate it so I think you have to send a very strong signal." In the meantime, Boren said he will work with students who are calling for a change, including Unheard, a campus organization that formed in response to the police shooting of Michael Brown

Summary: Boren is the first person in Oklahoma history to serve as governor, senator and OU president . He's the face of the university's stand against racism .


March 25, 2015 . Featured this Wednesday: The U.S. announces it will maintain its troop levels in Afghanistan through the rest of the year, Israel denies accusations that it spied on U.S.-led negotiations with Iran, a passenger plane crashes in the French Alps, and we feature a Character study involving a CNN Hero who's helping young people keep their eyes and ears healthy. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News!

Summary: This page includes the show Transcript . Use the Transcript to help students with reading comprehension and vocabulary . At the bottom of the page, comment for a chance to be mentioned on CNN Student News. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call.


Lagos, Nigeria (CNN)With partial results reported in the Nigerian presidential election, it appears opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari is leading incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. Reuters, which has collated results from three-quarters of Nigeria's states as they're broadcast live on state TV, reported that Buhari has so far obtained 11.5 million votes, Jonathan 9.5 million. Electoral officers from each of the 36 states are taking turns declaring results from their respective states at the Independent National Electoral Commission. The vote count was stopped Monday night and will resume at 10 a.m. Tuesday (5 a.m. ET), according to a tweet from Attahiru Jega, the chairman of the electoral commission. Jega will be the one to announce final results. Violent protests after Nigeria's presidential elections Saturday sparked calls for calm from the two main candidates and a warning by the United States and Britain against political interference. Protesters fired gunshots and torched a local electoral office in Nigeria's oil-rich Rivers state on Sunday as they marched to protest the elections, amid claims of vote-rigging and voter intimidation. Heavy rain eventually forced the protesters to leave, but there are fears it will take more than rain to stop further protests and violence. More than 800 people were killed in post-election violence across Nigeria's north in 2011 after charges that those elections were illegitimate. Now Nigeria has just held what are thought to be the closest elections since a return to democracy in 1999 after decades of military rule. The two main candidates are incumbent Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party and retired Buhari of All Progressives Congress. Jonathan and Buhari last week issued a pledge reaffirming their commitment to "free, fair and credible elections" after their signing of the Abuja Accord in January. After the protests in Rivers, Buhari's All Progressives Congress demanded the elections there be canceled. "There's been so much violence in Rivers state that it's just not tenable," party spokesman Lai Mohammed said. But the Peoples Democratic Party disputed the accusation, saying the election was "credible and the result reflects the overwhelming wish of the people of Rivers state to support President Goodluck Jonathan." "We are concerned by what seems to be happening," said Jega, the election chairman, about events in Rivers. Voting ended after problems with ballot papers and digital voting cards saw it extended to Sunday in some areas. Read more: Nigerian election extended one day . Britain and the United States entered the fray Monday with their top diplomats issuing a statement welcoming a "largely peaceful vote" but warning any political interference would contravene Jonathan and Buhari's peace pact. "So far, we have seen no evidence of systemic manipulation of the process. But there are disturbing indications that the collation process -- where the votes are finally counted -- may be subject to deliberate political interference. This would contravene the letter and spirit of the Abuja Accord, to which both major parties committed themselves," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said. Responding to their joint statement, electoral commission spokesman Kayode Idowu said: "For all that

Summary: Vote-counting postponed until Tuesday morning, election leader says in tweet . Partial vote count shows opposition candidate leading in Nigeria, Reuters reports . Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and retired Gen. Muhammadu Buhari faced off in election .


April 1, 2015 . A trip around the world starts things off this Tuesday, with coverage of events in Nigeria, Switzerland and West Africa. Then, at the start of Financial Literacy Month, we're taking a look at wages in the U.S. and how they're hampering the economy. And could cyborg cockroaches give pests a new role as rescuers? Discuss the ethics, the debate and the science from today's show! On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News!


(CNN)Saudi and allied warplanes struck rebels in Yemen on Thursday, with Saudi Arabia threatening to send ground troops and inserting itself into its southern neighbor's civil war, potentially opening up a broader sectarian conflict in the Middle East. The swift and sudden action involved 100 Saudi jets, 30 from the United Arab Emirates, 15 each from Kuwait and Bahrain, 10 from Qatar, and a handful from Jordan, Morocco and Sudan, plus naval help from Pakistan and Egypt, according to a Saudi adviser. The Egyptian state news agency on Thursday quoted Egypt's Foreign Ministry as saying Egypt's support also could involve ground forces. What do those countries have in common? They're all predominantly Sunni Muslim -- in contrast to the Houthi rebels, Shiite Muslims who have taken over Yemen's capital of Sanaa and on Wednesday captured parts of its second-largest city, Aden. The Saudis consider the Houthis proxies for the Shiite government of Iran and fear another Shiite-dominated state in the region. "What they do not want is an Iranian-run state on their southern border," CNN military analyst Lt. Col. Rick Francona said of the Saudis. The airstrikes did not include warplanes from the United States, which has worked with Yemeni governments -- including that of recently deposed but still battling President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi -- to go after al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. In fact, a senior official in President Barack Obama's administration said "there will be no military intervention by the U.S." But U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday did tell foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman that the United States commends the military action and is supporting it through intelligence sharing, targeting assistance and logistical support, according to a senior State Department official. How did Yemen get to this place? Houthi supreme leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi spoke live Thursday night in Yemen on al-Masirah TV, saying, "If any army try to invade our country, we will prove that Yemen will be a grave for those who invade us." He added, "We call on the invaders to stop the attacks and if the airstrikes do not end then we will escalate in the needed manner." Iran denounced the military intervention. Marzieh Afkham, a spokeswoman for the country's Foreign Ministry, said the operation will throw an already complicated situation into further turmoil and disrupt chances at a peaceful resolution to Yemen's monthslong internal strife. It also won't help a region already facing terrorist threats from groups like ISIS and al Qaeda, she said. "This is a dangerous action against international responsibilities to respect countries' national sovereignty," Afkham said, according to a report in Iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. Iraq -- 60% of whose citizens are Shiite, with about 20% being Sunnis -- offered similar, albeit a bit more muted opposition to what its Foreign Ministry called "the military interference of the Gulf Cooperation Council," which is made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. "We call on the Arab states to live up to their role to

Summary: Saudi ambassador says Iran is interfering in Yemen, other countries . Saudi adviser says the coalition controls the country's airspace . Houthi leader says rebels will escalate response if airstrikes continue, make Yemen a grave for Saudis .


(CNN)The desert and dun-colored cliffs around the town of Tataouine were once the backdrop for the movie "Star Wars," much of which was filmed in this neglected corner of Tunisia in 1976. This struggling town on the fringes of the Sahara still draws a few fans of the movie but now finds itself part of a real conflict, as a way-station for jihadists crossing the Libyan border 60 miles to the east. Earlier this month, before the gun attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis, three young men were arrested here as they allegedly made plans to cross into Libya to join a terrorist network. A local official told CNN they had since been taken to Tunis for questioning. Two arms caches have also been found in the region this month, one of which included rocket-propelled grenade launchers and more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition, thought to have been removed from a Libyan armory in the aftermath of Moammar Gadhafi's ouster in 2011. Driving near the border, it's quickly obvious why the Tunisian government is so anxious about Libya's implosion and the emergence there of an ISIS affiliate whose tentacles stretch half-way across the country. This open space is vast and sparsely populated. Smugglers' tracks criss-cross the endless scrub and steep, arid hills that run along the border. Gasoline, drugs and other contraband have long been smuggled across the frontier. Near the town of Remada, south of Tataouine, a couple of soldiers manned a checkpoint. They wore protective jackets -- whether for show or because of the perceived threat from Islamist militants, it's hard to know. When we arrived, passports were requested and phone calls made. We were escorted into the town and politely but firmly told we could go no further without written authorization. Exactly four years ago we had passed through Remada unchallenged. Tunisians had just launched the Arab Spring. There was a mood of heady optimism and the security apparatus of the Ben Ali regime had melted away. But already Libya was falling apart, as different groups of rebels fought to oust Gadhafi. Thousands of foreign workers were then trying to escape the violence through the few official border crossings. Now Libya's descent into chaos means those crossings are sometimes closed, and it's foreign fighters using the smugglers' trails that Tunisia must worry about. At the national guard building in Remada the officer in charge -- a burly figure in his mid-40s - was wearing a "New York 1999" sweatshirt and appeared to be one of many plainclothes security personnel in the town. He was happy to talk but didn't want his name reported. Ignoring calls on his cell phone, he lamented the state of the Arab world and the expansion of Daesh, as ISIS is frequently called. Look at Iraq, Syria, Libya....of course Tunisia is threatened, he said. The Tunisians are doing what they can, he said. There is now a 1.8-mile no-go zone inside the border, and the military has built fortified positions every couple of miles. The security presence has been boosted seven- to ten-fold, but

Summary: Tataouine, near "Star Wars" set, lies just 60 miles from the Libyan border . Tunisian officials worry about the area because of its proximity to Libya, and ISIS .


March 30, 2015 . Monday on CNN Student News: Find out what issues were on the minds of Nigerians, as voters in Africa's largest democracy went to the polls. Discover how an astronaut on a 340-day mission to the International Space Station will become one of the experiments being conducted. And lend your ears to an invention that aims to extinguish fires with low-frequency sound waves. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News!


(CNN)An Iraqi man watching his first snowfall in his new American hometown was shot and killed by an unknown assailant, according to Dallas police. Authorities have stepped up patrols in the neighborhood where Ahmed Al-Jumaili lived -- and died -- in their effort to find out who killed the 36-year-old early Thursday, as he and his brother stood in the parking lot of his apartment complex watching the snow. Al-Jumaili's wife was with them taking photos. Dallas police spokesman Jeff Cotner said Al-Jumaili, who recently immigrated to the U.S., had never seen snow and "just like all of us, a pretty snowfall brings the child out in us." There is "extreme heartache ... and no shortage of sadness for this beautiful young man who had just come to this country 20 days ago," said Alia Salem, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in the Dallas and Fort Worth area. CAIR became involved in the case immediately after the shooting, according to Salem, because of "a heightened sense of awareness with regard to hate crimes against Muslims." Salem said the Muslim community wanted to know whether the shooting death was random or whether Al-Jumaili was targeted. Police say they have no indication so far that it was a hate crime. When shooting broke out, Al-Jumaili cried "I'm hit!" according to Cotner, basing that on statements from witnesses and the victim's relatives. He ran to his apartment nearby and died a few hours later. Police did not say where Al-Jumaili was struck or how many times he was shot. Some residents reported seeing two to four men enter the apartment complex on foot through a vehicle gate before the shooting, according to Cotner. He said there was no interaction between the men and Al-Jumaili and his family. In black-and-white soundless surveillance video, one person who appears to be carrying a rifle is seen running just ahead of a second person, Dallas police Officer Monica Cordova said. The second person is shown walking at a slower pace, holding what appears to be a handgun in his right hand. Approximately 13 seconds later, another person comes into view and passes by the camera, followed by a fourth individual who is walking, she said. From the vantage point of the camera, it is difficult to make out any of the features of the suspects or even the gender, although police have said they are looking for four black males. Witnesses say multiple shots were fired from what is believed to be a rifle. Cotner said police are conducting tests to find out whether more than one rifle was used in the shooting, but he said he could not reveal the make or model of the weapon. Cotner said Friday that other than that, police have little to go on. "We can't solve this crime alone," he said. Authorities are appealing to the public to contact them with any information that might help the investigation. North Texas Crime Stoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and an indictment, police said.

Summary: Dallas police say Ahmed Al-Jumaili was killed by shot from a rifle, but they aren't revealing what type . Authorities say shooting does not appear to be a hate crime, but that hasn't been ruled out .


(CNN)It's playing out like a scene from "Night of the Living Dead"-- in the boardroom of one of Italy's most famous clubs. Director George A. Romero's horror cult classic revolved around a swarm of slow-moving cannibalistic corpses snacking on the inhabitants of a shopping mall and Parma general manager and team legend Alessandro Melli talks in similarly apocalyptic tones as he details the financial crisis engulfing the Serie A club. "It seems like we are zombies, working without knowing where we are heading," Melli told CNN's Don Riddell. Rooted at the bottom of Italy's top flight, Parma has debts of approximately $100 million and faces a looming financial collapse -- barring a miracle ownership rescue. The club has been docked points twice this season for failing to pay its players and faces a bankruptcy hearing on March 19. "Every day they take away a part of our work and piece of our hearts. Bits of the club are foreclosed every day and we come here to work just because we love our work and our team, but we cannot do our job," added Melli. "We're living in a nightmare, whichever way you look at it. Because this is not just about the money, even though we can't ignore it, there is a lot more that they are taking away. Dignity, the smile; they took away our respect and it hurts." Last season Parma finished sixth in Serie A, only to be barred from taking part in European football's second tier competition -- the Europa League -- over an income tax bill. Between 1992 and 2002 Parma won two UEFA Cups, the 1992 European Cup Winners' Cup and three Italian Cups in a successful spell between 1992 and 2002. In 1997, led by current Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti and with the caliber of players like Gianfranco Zola, Faustino Asprilla and Hernan Crespo, Parma finished runners-up in Serie A. "Look at the team we had," said Angelo Manfredini, president of the Parma supporters club, referring to those halycon days, as he rattled off other players including Melli, Fabio Cannavaro and longtime Italy captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who now plays for Juventus. "All were players who meant something to football." Fast forward to more austere times and Parma's current players haven't been paid since August. They're so fed up they've threatened to go on strike -- that is if the games are allowed proceed in the first place, with two of Parma's recent fixtures having been called off given the club's problems. Parma was once owned by the world's leading dairy company, Parmalat Spa, which collapsed under financial fraud in 2003. The club has already changed hands twice this season after a Russian-Cypriot conglomerate sold the club to Giampietro Manenti. A despairing Melli depicted a club that is being seemingly taken apart seat by seat, screw by screw. "One day, we won't have the laundry anymore," said Melli. "The next day, computers (will be) taken away, then we don't have emails anymore. "And then the physical objects related to sport, like benches, like

Summary: Legendary club of Cannavaro and Buffon faces bankruptcy court March 19 . Parma has changed hands twice in past year, administration likely . Players have not been paid all season .


Baghdad (CNN)About 75% of the besieged Iraqi city of Tikrit is now back in government control, the head of a key paramilitary force taking part in the attack told CNN on Thursday. The other 25% is in the hands of about 150 ISIS fighters who continue to hold out, said Main Al-Kadhimi, commander of the Hashd Al-Shaabi militia. There has been no independent confirmation of such a significant advance by the Iraqi forces. But they have been making progress in recent days. ISIS' spokesman, Abu Mohammed al Adnani, called reports of coalition-member victories "delusional and fake." He spoke of the coalition's use of fighter jets, heavy artillery and tanks, saying it is a "nightmare and will go eventually." On Wednesday, joint Iraqi forces gained control of Tikrit Military Hospital, a few blocks south of the presidential palace. It's part of their ongoing quest to wrest control from ISIS, which captured the city last year. The predominantly Shiite militia has been working with Iraqi troops as well as Sunni fighters to try to regain Tikrit. Tikrit, best known to Westerners as the birthplace of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, fell in June to ISIS, which has captured large areas of Iraq and Syria for what it says is its Islamic caliphate. On March 1, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered Iraqi forces to retake Tikrit and Salaheddin province. ISIS wasn't making it easy, however. The Sunni extremist group blew up a key bridge near Tikrit, preventing the joint Iraqi forces from using it to cross the Tigris River to approach the city from the east. Nevertheless, forces have made progress, forcing ISIS fighters to retreat toward the city center from front-line positions, Hashd Al-Shaabi's media office said. There have been several failed attempts to recapture Tikrit since the second half of 2014. If Iraq regains control of the city, it could mean that retaking Mosul -- a city 10 times bigger -- is possible. The Tikrit offensive involves around 30,000 fighters. Also assisting is Iran, which has provided advisers, weapons and ammunition to the Iraqi government. According to the Pentagon, Iranians may be operating heavy artillery and rocket launchers as well. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday that the consensus was that Iran's involvement was positive in military terms. "Anything anyone does to counter ISIS is in the main a good outcome," he said. But Dempsey also voiced concern over what might happen after ISIS is defeated. A key question, he said, is "whether the government of Iraq will remain on a path to provide an inclusive government for all of the groups" in Iraq. Tikrit could act as an important testing ground, with some observers concerned that if the predominantly Shiite militias seize control, thanks in part to the support of majority-Shiite Iran, they could carry out reprisal attacks against the remaining Sunni population there. Such attacks could inflame already simmering sectarian tensions within Iraq and make future efforts to retake Mosul and bring peace to

Summary: ISIS tunnels under Iraqi army headquarters; explosions kill dozens of soldiers . Iraqi officials say they are investigating claims of abuses by soldiers after photos emerge . ISIS has launched a major assault on the city of Ramadi, an official says .