Washington (CNN) Besieged by bad news at home, President Donald Trump is about to get religion, bigly.

 In his first foreign trip as President, which begins Friday, Trump has planned a pilgrimage of sorts, visiting the homelands of all three Abrahamic faiths -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam -- before heading to Europe for meetings with Pope Francis and NATO leaders.

 In all, it's an ambitious nine-day, five-country tour that will test the religious acumen and diplomatic skills of a President who, beyond courting conservative Christians and casting suspicion on Muslims, rarely talks about religion.

 Trump's itinerary includes Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, where he aims to erase his Islamophobic image and urge Muslim leaders to address extremist ideologies. In the Holy Land, Trump wants to jumpstart the stalled peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, while visiting touchstones like the Western Wall. And in Europe, the President seeks to repair frayed relations with two of the continent's most venerable institutions, the Vatican and NATO.

 Gen. H.R. McMaster, Trump's national security adviser, called the President's plans unprecedented. "No President has ever visited the homelands and holy sites of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslims faiths all on one trip," he said at a press briefing last week.

 Actually, other Presidents have visited Saudi Arabia and the Holy Land on the same trip. But no President has included the Vatican, Catholicism's holy headquarters, on the itinerary.

 The White House says Trump has three main goals: to project American power abroad, build relationships with world leaders and "broadcast a message of unity" to Jews, Christians and Muslims.

 "What President Trump is seeking is to unite peoples of all faiths around a common vision of peace, progress and prosperity," McMaster said.

 Religious accord is a smart way for the White House to frame Trump's trip, said Chris Seiple, former president of the Institute for Global Engagement and an expert on faith and foreign policy.

 "Most of the American people are utterly fed up with the Middle East, and this framework is a way to get their attention," Seiple said.

 But some experts question whether Trump is the right messenger to preach about religious unity.

 Trump was raised Christian, but as an adult he has rarely attended worship services, nor had he cultivated relationships with religious leaders before running for president. During the campaign, his remarks on religion were sometimes seen as uninformed and divisive.

 He was accused of tweeting an anti-Semitic image and trafficking in anti-Jewish tropes; he said "Islam hates us" and pledged to temporarily bar Muslims from the United States; he even feuded with Pope Francis, who said that someone who talks only about building walls instead of bridges isn't Christian. Trump called the Pope's comments "disgraceful."

 Concerns about Trump's views on religion have carried over into his administration.

 He pleased his conservative Christian base with the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court and an executive order promising greater legal latitude to pastors who want to preach about politics. But Jews complained for weeks about his reluctance to condemn dozens of bomb threats at Jewish community centers, and Muslims say his executive order halting immigration from several Muslim-majority nations discriminates against their religion.

 "Up until now, Trump's message on Islam has been very confrontational, a clash-of-civilizations type narrative," said Shadi Hamid, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and an expert on political Islam. "For him to talk about the great faiths unified in a common civilization would be quite different."

 Posing for photos with the Pope and praying at the site of Jesus' tomb may alter aspects of Trump's image, but the his pilgrimage bears considerable risks, especially for someone with a tendency to improvise in delicate diplomatic situations.

 "If he takes advantage of this trip to bring people together, that would be good," said Seiple. "On the other hand, the whole thing could blow up in our face."

 With those challenges in mind, here are the key religious events during Trump's trip.

 Saudi Arabia

 Where: Riyadh

 When: May 20-21

 Key religious event: Speech to leaders of 50 Muslim countries

 McMaster said Trump plans to deliver an "inspiring yet direct" speech to leaders from Muslim countries on Sunday. The topic is the "need to confront radical ideology" and the "President's hope for a peaceful vision of Islam to dominate across the world."

 "The speech is intended to unite the broader Muslim world against common enemies of all civilization and to demonstrate our commitment to our Muslim partners."

 The President is fairly popular among Muslim heads of state, experts say, because of his hardline stance on Iran and reluctance to lecture Middle East dictators on human rights.

 But Trump's speech risks alienating or even insulting many Muslims who are weary of Western politicians conflating their faith with terrorism.

 Elliott Abrams, who supervised President George W. Bush's Middle East policy, said Trump will have to navigate between "very dangerous portals."

 "If he says nothing about Islamic extremism, then supporters at home will say he bit his tongue; if he says too much about it, he could conceivably offend some of those who are there."

 Early signs about the speech are not encouraging, experts said, especially after CNN reported that Stephen Miller, a White House aide known for peddling Islamophobic ideas , was drafting Trump's address. Miller also helped craft Trump's first executive order barring immigrants from several Muslim-majority countries. (A second order is being fought in the courts after the first version hit legal roadblocks.)

 William McCants, director of the Brookings Institution's Project on US Relations with the Islamic World, offered Trump some advice for the speech. The first tip: cancel it.

 "The President is not known for nuance, which is what a speech like this requires to escape the potential wrath of his multiple audiences," McCants said.

 McCants and other experts on Islam also warned against projecting Saudi Arabia's strict theocracy as a model for "moderate Muslims."

 While the country is the custodian of Islam's "two holy mosques," it has also spread a toxic theology, Salafism, that has inspired extremists like al Qaeda and ISIS. What's more, the country has a horrible human rights record, according to international watchdogs, particularly on religious freedom.

 One safe proposal, according to foreign policy experts, is a regional roundtable on religious freedom, looking particularly at the plight of Christians in Muslim-majority countries. The Trump administration has been studying the idea , after meeting with members of the Institute for Global Engagement earlier this month.

 Israel/West Bank

 Where: Jerusalem and Bethlehem

 When: May 22-23

 Key religious events: Speech at Israel Museum, prayer at Western Wall, visit to Church of the Holy Sepulchre

 In some ways, Trump is sending a message just by setting foot in Israel, Jewish leaders say.

 President Obama, during his first Middle East trip, skipped the Jewish state, a slight that some Israelis were reluctant to forgive, said Robert Danin, a former State Department official and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

 In Jerusalem, Trump will lay a wreath at Yad Vashem, a memorial to the Holocaust victims, before delivering a speech "reaffirming America's unshakable bond" with Israel at the Israel Museum, the White House says.

 Danin said some Israeli leaders appear apprehensive about Trump's speech, mainly because they don't know what he's going to say.

 "That uncertainty is very anxiety-provoking for the Israeli government because they fear that he is going to ask the Israelis to do things that this government may not want to do, may not be in a position to do."

 Other Jewish leaders say they'll be looking for more than pacifying political rhetoric from Trump.

 "We want to see if the President understands Israel's traumas, its security dilemmas and its unique importance in the region," said David Harris, CEO of the American Jewish Committee. "It's about chemistry and tonality and feelings. We want to know if he feels Israel in the kishkes," the Yiddish word for gut.

 The Trump administration has already caused a diplomatic stir over the Western Wall, the last remnant of Judaism's Second Temple and its holiest place of prayer.

 According to reports, an American diplomat said Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu could not accompany Trump to the holy site because it's not in Israel. Previous administrations have considered east Jerusalem, where the wall sits, to be Israeli-occupied territory, but Trump's position is unclear. Palestinians also claim Jerusalem as their capital.

 McMaster dodged questions about Trump's stance on the wall, saying the President aims to send a religious, not political, message.

 "He's going to the Western Wall mainly in connection with the theme: to connect with three of the world's great religions -- and to pay homage at each of these religious sites that he's visiting."

 Earlier that day, Trump will travel to Bethlehem, where he will encourage Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to come to the negotiating table with Israel, the White House says.

 Trump has eased the way for talks to restart, Middle East experts say, by delaying a campaign promise to move the US embassy to disputed Jerusalem, a change that would irk Palestinians and other Arabs.

 But Trump will still have to address the embassy question, Abrams said. "If the President says nothing about it, then he is, in essence, moving away from the campaign promise."

 One possible compromise: Trump could continue to call Jerusalem " the eternal capital of the Jewish people," while dragging his feet on the embassy move.

 Rome

 Where: Vatican City

 When: May 24

 Key religious moment: Meeting Pope Francis

 When Trump visits the Vatican Wednesday, it will be the most highly anticipated meeting between Pope and President in recent memory. But those expecting a donnybrook will likely be disappointed, church experts say. Neither the President nor Pope Francis seem eager to replay their brief spat over Trump's border wall.

 Asked about the upcoming meeting, Francis said he's keeping an open mind.

 "I will say what I think, he will say what he thinks, but I never, ever, wanted to make a judgment without hearing the person," the Pope said at a recent press conference aboard the papal plane.

 Francis also said he will not seek to change Trump's mind on policy disagreements. Instead, he'll try to find avenues of agreement.

 "Look for the doors that are at least a little bit open, enter and talk about common things and go on. Step by step. Peace is handcrafted. It is made every day. Also friendship among people, mutual knowledge, esteem, is handcrafted."

 Churchwatchers say the Vatican is eager to open lines of communication with the new American President, especially after their rocky start.

 "At this point, there doesn't seem to be much common ground between the new President and the Pope," said John Thavis, author of "The Vatican Diaries" and a longtime reporter on the Catholic Church, "and that's probably pretty worrying for the Vatican."

 McMaster said Trump looks forward to paying his respects to the Pope and discussing religious freedom, as well as cooperation in humanitarian missions and combating religious persecution and human trafficking.

 Much of the meeting consists of elaborate protocol: the Swiss Guard will welcome Trump as a head of state, and the Pope and President will exchange gifts. The private meeting between Francis and Trump is expected to last just half an hour, as the Pope is scheduled to speak in St. Peter's Square shortly after the encounter.

 Rep. Francis Rooney, US ambassador to the Vatican from 2005-2008, said the real diplomatic decisions often occur when the secretaries of state and other diplomats convene on the sidelines. One such meeting covered 16 countries, Rooney recalled, in which the Catholic Church and United States worked together on political and humanitarian missions.

 "The Holy See doesn't have business to promote or consular activities to direct," Rooney said. "It's all about the big ideas and the power of persuasion."

 For a President who likes to think big and make splashy deals, this trip offers plenty of opportunities, as well as a few potential pitfalls. ||||| US President Donald Trump will repeat his opposition to settlement growth in the West Bank during his first visit to the region next week – and expects the Israeli government to acknowledge that his position has been heard, a senior White House official said on Thursday.

 The president will visit Jerusalem and Bethlehem during his visit on Monday and Tuesday, meeting with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders, after attending an “Arab Islamic summit” in Riyadh over the weekend.

 He will not arrive in Jerusalem – or Riyadh – proposing diplomatic frameworks or road maps of any kind for Israeli-Arab peace, the official said.“This is not a trip in which the president comes and says, ‘Here’s my peace plan,’” the official said. “We’re not looking at something formal yet – perhaps down the road.”And while the president hopes to eventually bring Israelis and Palestinians around the same table, the White House believes it is “too early” for those talks to begin on this trip, the official said, confirming earlier reporting in The Jerusalem Post that a trilateral summit among US, Israeli and Palestinian leaders had been put on hold.Aides say the president has no plans ever to serve as an “arbiter of details” in future peace negotiations. But “he has expressed a general concern” with ongoing Israeli settlement activity, the official said.“He will reiterate that,” said the official. “He has not abandoned the two-state solution.”Trump first outlined his concerns about Israel’s settlement construction outside of existing settlement blocs in February when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited him in Washington. “Hold back a bit” on future building, Trump asked Netanyahu in front of the press.Now, Trump expects “assurances and signals from the Israeli government that they’ve heard his views,” the senior official said.Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, had held that settlements were a stumbling block to peace. While Trump has not expressed that position, Israel had hoped he would have a more tolerant view of settlement construction, which it believes has no bearing on the peace process.Netanyahu on Thursday said he believed that Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jews was the stumbling block to the peace process.“The failure to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians and achieve peace lies with the Palestinian refusal to accept the existence of the Jewish State in any borders,” Netanyahu told Costa Rican Foreign Minister Manuel A. González Sanz.Heather Nauert, the Trump administration’s new spokesperson at the State Department, said that in Bethlehem Trump will “express his desire for dignity and self-determination of the Palestinian people” while meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas after visiting with Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin and Netanyahu in Jerusalem.Trump will also offer remarks at the Israel Museum and visit Yad Vashem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism. Administration officials have not stated whether the president believes the wall is in sovereign Israeli territory, and one official on Thursday confirmed that Trump will be accompanied only by the rabbi of the Western Wall – not by any Israeli government officials – “in keeping with the religious nature of the site.”The official could not confirm or deny reports that Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and an Orthodox Jew, will join the president on his trip to the wall.In Israel, the US Embassy spokeswoman told the Post that “the Western Wall is in Jerusalem.”She spoke in reference to comments attributed to US officials working in Jerusalem that the Western Wall was in the West Bank, meaning that it was not under Israeli sovereignty.“The reports in the press about the conversations are not accurate,” she said. “In any event, such alleged statements would not have been authorized by the White House, do not reflect the US position and certainly not the president’s position.“All indications are US officials’ actions were in accordance with longstanding US policy on coordination for such official visits to Jerusalem.”The sudden dispute that broke out between the US and Israel over the Western Wall was followed by reports that Trump planned to delay the execution of his pre-election pledge to relocate the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israel had hoped that he would announce the move while in the capital.Trump’s Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt is already in the area meeting with Israelis and Palestinians. On Thursday night, he met with King Abdullah in Jordan. Earlier he met with Netanyahu’s staff.As a sign of support for Trump’s drive to improve the Palestinian economy, Israel’s cabinet is expected to approve on Sunday a package of economic incentives for the Palestinians. ||||| WASHINGTON — President Trump leaves on Friday for a nine-day, five-city foreign excursion, his first trip outside the United States as the country’s leader and top diplomat.

 He doesn’t really want to go.

 In recent days, Mr. Trump has groused to several friends that he is not looking forward to leaving his new White House cocoon for high-profile, high-pressure meetings with dozens of world leaders in unfamiliar settings.

 At one point, he barked at an aide that he thought his first tour abroad should be only about half as long. He will have to abandon his well-known preference for sleeping in his own bed (or in one at the hotels or golf resorts he owns) as he hops between Saudi Arabia, Israel, Belgium, Italy and the Vatican — all places without a Trump-branded property.

 But the trip comes at a critical moment for Mr. Trump’s young presidency. It is his first opportunity to deliver specifics about his “America first” worldview to a global audience that has watched his initial, chaotic months in the White House with a mix of amusement, befuddlement and alarm. ||||| President Donald Trump accompanied by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, left, calls on a member of the media during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, May 18, 2017,... (Associated Press)

 President Donald Trump accompanied by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, left, calls on a member of the media during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, May 18, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Associated Press)

 President Donald Trump accompanied by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, left, calls on a member of the media during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, May 18, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Associated Press) President Donald Trump accompanied by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, left, calls on a member of the media during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, May 18, 2017,... (Associated Press)

 WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's maiden international trip, a five-stop marathon across the Middle East and Europe, has long loomed as a crucial first test abroad for the chaos-courting president.

 That was before he fired his FBI director — and the chain reaction of scandal that followed.

 Now, with the eyes of the world upon him, the president will embark on his big trip carrying the baggage of dire troubles at home. As he tries to calm allies worried about his "America First" message, he'll be followed by fallout from his firing of FBI Director James Comey and the appointment of a special counsel to probe his campaign's ties with Russia.

 "There has never been a president taking his first international trip being dogged by scandal like this," said Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. "He's already a president viewed skeptically by much of the world. And while the pictures from the trip may be great, the White House can't change the headlines that will follow him wherever he goes."

 Trump's trip was always going to be dramatic. U.S. allies have been rattled by his warnings about pulling back from the world. He is tasked with urging a united front against terror by appealing to some of the same corners of the Muslim world he has tried to keep out of the United States with his travel ban. Last week, he added new layers of complication by disclosing classified intelligence to a longtime adversary.

 Still, the White House once hoped the trip, wrapped in the pomp and circumstance of diplomatic protocol, could offer a chance at a reset after a tumultuous first four months in office. Trump's advisers saw it as an opportunity for the United States to boldly reassert itself on the world stage and resume a leadership role that the administration believes was abdicated by President Barack Obama. Trump's powerful senior adviser, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, led a West Wing team to craft the agenda, laden with religious symbolism.

 Still, Trump hasn't been eager to seize the opportunity. It's been more than a half-century since any president waited as long to take his first foreign trip. The itinerary, which begins Saturday in Saudi Arabia, is a startlingly ambitious excursion for a president who dislikes travel and has displayed a shaky grasp of foreign affairs.

 Each stop comes with high stakes.

 In Saudi Arabia, the president — whose campaign was marked by heated anti-Muslim rhetoric and whose administration has tried to enact a travel ban from several Muslim-majority countries — will deliver a speech to the Islamic world meant to be a clear contrast with the vision Obama laid out in his first trip to the region.

 In Israel, Trump will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, looking to smooth over fresh tensions. Israel was in an uproar earlier this week after U.S. officials confirmed Trump shared highly classified intelligence about the Islamic State group with senior Russian officials visiting the White House. The information, about an IS threat related to the use of laptops on aircraft, came from Israel and there were concerns a valuable Israeli asset could be in danger, a U.S. official said, requesting anonymity to discuss the sensitive material.

 National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster added to the alarm by refusing to declare the Western Wall a part of Israel. U.S. policy holds that ownership of the holiest site where Jews can pray, as with the rest of Jerusalem, is subject to Israeli-Palestinian negotiation.

 In Rome, the president will call upon Pope Francis, the popular, liberal-minded pontiff. Trump denounced Francis during the campaign, calling the holiest man in the Catholic faith "disgraceful" for questioning his faith.

 In Brussels, Trump will attend a meeting of NATO, the World War II-era alliance which Trump has repeatedly mused about abandoning because member states weren't paying their fair share. He recently has shifted to reassure wary allies that he remains committed to the pact.

 And in Sicily, the president will meet with the other leaders of the G7, a gathering of Western economic powers. Key parts of the group are unsettled by Trump's unpredictability and his willingness to cheer on nationalist sentiment.

 Trump's itinerary is heavy with religious symbolism. He'll visit the birthplace of Islam, the Jewish homeland and the Vatican. Officials say the message is "unity."

 "He strongly believes that it is the strength of the faith of people in these religions that will stand up and ultimately be victorious over these forces of terrorism," Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

 Administration officials believe the unexpected move of going to Saudi Arabia first was meant to underscore the seriousness of the United States' commitment to fighting extremist groups like the Islamic State. Trump, whose denunciations of Iran have been welcomed by the Saudis, wants to frame the conflict not as one between the West and Islam, but simply between good and evil, according to his aides.

 While some Middle East leaders will likely greet Trump warmly, he could receive a far cooler reception in Europe. Though Pope Francis has said he'd "never make a judgment about a person without hearing him out," others on the continent have sharply criticized Trump. That includes France's newly elected President Emmanuel Macron, who denounced Trump's musings on abandoning the Paris climate treaty, a likely point of contention in Sicily.

 Trump's inauguration sparked thousands of protesters to fill the streets of several European capitals, chaotic scenes that could be repeated during his stops in Rome, Brussels and Sicily.

 "Welcome to the White House abroad," said Ari Fleischer, President George W. Bush's former press secretary. "This is a great opportunity for the president to change the subject, to make real news. But the downside is that it could be dominated by domestic-style questions. ... Every first trip is over-scrutinized. The whole world is watching."

 ___

 Follow Lemire on Twitter at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire

 . ||||| “I am very excited for the upcoming trip,” Melania Trump said in a statement. | Getty Melania Trump scheduled to address U.S. military families during trip abroad

 Melania Trump will engage with foreign women and children and deliver remarks to U.S. military families and personnel when she joins President Donald Trump on his first trip abroad as commander in chief, the first lady’s office announced Thursday.

 The Trumps will leave Washington on Friday for a trip to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Rome, Brussels and Sicily. And while Melania Trump will accompany her husband at some events, the White House said the first lady will also participate in many of her own, including attending spousal programs at the NATO and G-7 summits in Brussels and Sicily, respectively, and speaking to U.S. military personnel and families in Italy.

 Story Continued Below

 “I am very excited for the upcoming trip,” Melania Trump said in a statement. “This will not just be an opportunity to support my husband as he works on important matters of national security and foreign relations, it will also be my honor to visit and speak with women and children from different countries, with different perspectives.” ||||| President Trump will leave the U.S. for his first trip abroad as commander-in-chief on May 19, in a bid to boost his foreign policy agenda.

 He will be accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump for the eight-day, five-country itinerary, which includes stops in the symbolic homes of three Abrahamic religions. Trump may be attempting to rebuild relations with countries like Israel and Saudi Arabia, which frayed under the Presidency of Barack Obama. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will also accompany Trump for most of the trip.

 Trump outlined his objectives for this trip, which comes as his Administration struggles with a series of controversies, as he addressed the U.S. Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday.

 “I will strengthen old friendships and seek new partners, but partners who also help us, not partners who take, and take, and take,” Trump said in his commencement address. “Partners who help pay for whatever we are doing and all of the good that we doing for them. Which is something that a lot of people have not gotten used to, and they just can’t get used to it.”

 Here’s his itinerary:

 Saudi Arabia

 Trump arrives in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, on May 20. He will first meet King Salman in Riyadh for coffee, followed by a royal banquet, before holding bilateral talks with the King, the Crown Prince and Deputy Crown Prince. Trump will reportedly come bearing a $100 billion arms deal, and the leaders are likely to discuss issues such as Syria, Iran and the ongoing war in Yemen.

 Before having dinner with the Saudi royal family, the President will take part in a signing ceremony on several agreements, which “will further solidify U.S.-Saudi security and economic cooperation” National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster told the press on May 16.

 The next day, Trump will hold bilateral meetings with the Gulf Cooperation Council, which consists of six energy rich Middle Eastern countries. The President will have lunch with leaders from more than 50 Muslim countries— including Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for alleged war crimes— during a summit. Syria and Iran were not invited to the event as they are not part of a Saudi Arabian military alliance, that is being established to fight terrorism. There, Trump will give a speech about radical ideology and Islam, which is being drafted by White House aide Stephen Miller, Politico reports.

 According to McMaster, Trump will finish-off his trip by inaugurating a new center to fight radicalism and will participate in a Twitter forum with young people.

 Israel

 Trump arrives in Israel on May 22 amid a handful of diplomatic misunderstandings, which includes Trump allegedly revealing classified intelligence to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that is thought to have come from Israel, and McMaster declining to state that the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites in Judaism, is a part of Israel.

 Trump is set to meet with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem and lay a wreath at the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, Yad Vashem. He will then deliver remarks at the Israel Museum and reaffirm the U.S.’s “unshakable bond with our closest ally in the Middle East” McMaster said. Later that day, he will meet privately with Prime Minister Netanyahu and have dinner with Netanyahu and his wife.

 The next day, Trump will spend time with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, part of his effort to facilitate the end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Jerusalem, Trump is set to say a prayer at the Western Wall, becoming the first sitting U.S. President to visit the contested territory. He will also visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

 Vatican City

 Trump will meet Pope Francis at the Vatican on May 24. Both men hold opposing views on climate change and immigration. Speaking ahead of the visit on May 13, the Pontiff says he won’t try to persuade Trump to his views and he will try and find common ground with the President.

 “I will tell him what I think, he will tell me what he thinks, but I never wanted to judge someone before I listen to the person first,” the Pope said, ABC News reports. According to reports, Trump is due to nominate Callista Gingrich, the wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, for the post of U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.

 Trump will also get a tour of St. Peter’s by the Cardinal Secretary of State and will meet Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella before departing Rome.

 Belgium

 The President will meet Belgium’s King Philippe and Prime Minister Charles Michel, as well as heads of state and government of the country on May 25. He will then head to the E.U. headquarters in Brussels to meet the E.U. and European Council presidents. Trump has previously said that the U.K. was doing the right thing by leaving the E.U. and that other countries would follow.

 Trump will then have a working lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron. During the French presidential elections, Trump told Associated Press that he thought far-right leader Marine Le Pen would do well in the vote as she was “strongest on borders, and she’s the strongest on what’s been going on in France” he told AP.

 Trump is then expected to reaffirm his commitment to NATO while unveiling the security bloc’s memorial, in front of a piece of the Berlin Wall and segment of the World Trade Center. Trump will also say that “for the good of the alliance, all members must share responsibility and share burdens” McMaster said. Secretary of Defense James Mattis will accompany Trump for a NATO meeting and dinner.

 Italy

 Trump will head to Italy for the final leg of his trip for a May 26-27 G7 meeting on the island of Sicily. The event will be attended by German President Angela Merkel, Macron, U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the leaders of Italy and Japan— who are keen to gain a clear understanding of Trump’s views on a range of issues, which include trade, terrorism and the refugee crisis.

 The White House has however said that Trump will only make a decision as to whether he will pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement on his return from Sicily. According to McMaster, Trump will “press America’s economic agenda and call for greater security cooperation” he said.

 At the summit, Trump will attend a concert by the La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra and attend a leaders’ dinner.

 Contact us at editors@time.com. ||||| President Donald Trump has canceled a planned visit and speech at the ancient mountain fortress of Masada in Israel after authorities told him that he could not land his helicopter on top of the UNESCO-listed site.

 Instead, Trump will now deliver a speech at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. It comes after an Israeli Air Force (IAF) regulation that prevents helicopters landing at the summit of the Masada site, according to Israel’s Channel 2 broadcaster.

 Read more: What to know about Masada, the ancient Israeli site where Trump wasn't allowed to land his chopper

 Unlike former presidents who have made the trip, such as George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Trump declined to land the helicopter at a base of the historic site and then take the cable car up, preferring to cancel the visit altogether.

 The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment, referring any matters involving Trump’s schedule to the U.S. government. The Israeli Foreign Ministry also declined to comment on Trump’s schedule.

 The reason for the regulation is that helicopters on approach create dust, making landing at the desert site 1,300 feet above sea level precarious. On a previous 1997 landing by the IAF in the middle of Masada, the wind created by the helicopter caused damage to the ruins, according to the Jerusalem Post.

 Masada, a UNESCO World Heritage site that the cultural agency calls a creation of “majestic beauty,” is built upon a mountain overlooking the shores of the Dead Sea in southern Israel’s Judean desert, some 60 miles southeast of Jerusalem. It is one of the country’s archaeological wonders.

 King Herod is believed to have built the fortress, but its defining story is that its Jewish rebel defenders who—under threat from a Roman siege—killed themselves rather than be captured alive by the invading forces some time between 73 and 74 AD.

 News of the president’s cancellation stirred reactions among observers of the American-Israeli relationship and officials inside the country. “Well Masada was too hot, so we found a great spot instead for POTUS,” Eitan Weiss, deputy spokesperson for the Israeli Foreign Ministry tweeted, appearing to mock the reason for the cancellation. “@IsraelMuseum. The Dead Sea Scrolls make an important setting.”

 Another Twitter user joked : “Trump is going to move the U.S. embassy to Masada,” referencing the consideration the president is giving to moving Washington’s diplomatic representation from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

 Read more: Trump ISIS leak to Russia threatens Israel-U.S. intelligence sharing

 Martin Indyk, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, tweeted that a raft of decisions on the Trump administration in regard to the visit has “soured” Israel’s mood. As well as the Masada cancellation, Trump will only spend 15 minutes at the national Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem, a move likely to offend the Israelis.

 Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty

 Ahead of the visit, a member of Trump’s diplomatic staff told the Israelis that the Western Wall was in the West Bank and they did not want Netanyahu to accompany Trump on his visit to the site. The declaration sparked Israel’s anger and a call from the government for an explanation from the White House, which subsequently said that this was not Trump’s position.

 It will be the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to the Western Wall (Barack Obama only visited the site as a presidential candidate).

 Israel considers the site to be the nearest to the holiest landmark in Judaism—the Temple Mount—where Israelis can pray, to be part of Jerusalem and, therefore, Israel. Jews cannot pray at the Temple Mount, which is controled by a Jordanian-Palestinian Islamic Waqf, or trust.

 But the wall sits in the old city of East Jerusalem, a territory Israel occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War, and therefore land that much of the international community, including the U.S., does not recognize as Israel’s.

 Jim Watson/AFP/Getty |||||

Write a summary.

– "No president has ever visited the homelands and holy sites of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths all on one trip," says National Security Adviser HR McMaster—and President Trump's critics say there are probably good reasons why. Trump departs Friday for an ambitious first foreign trip as president that will include Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Vatican, a NATO meeting in Belgium, and the G7 summit in Sicily. A roundup of coverage: Trump's first stop on the nine-day trip will be Saudi Arabia, where he is expected to address the leaders of 50 Muslim countries, CNN reports. McMaster says Trump's goal is "to unite peoples of all faiths around a common vision of peace, progress, and prosperity," and his speech in Riyadh will focus on the need to "confront radical ideology" and allow a "peaceful vision of Islam" to dominate. Trump's second stop will be Israel, where his plans include visits to the Western Wall and the West Bank town of Bethlehem. Newsweek reports that the president had to call off a planned speech at the ancient hilltop site of Masada after Israel declined to allow a helicopter landing. A source tell the Jerusalem Post that Trump will not propose a peace plan at this point, though he may state his opposition to Israeli settlement expansion. The president's European stops will include meetings with Pope Francis and dozens of other leaders and heads of state, Time reports in a detailed look at his itinerary. Among them will be new French President Emmanuel Macron, who will meet Trump for a working lunch May 25. Sources tell the New York Times that Trump has complained to friends that he doesn't really want to go on the trip. His critics, fearing the possibility of monumental gaffes, would also like him to stay home. Stephen J. Hadley, George W. Bush's national security adviser, however, says such trips are tightly controlled and Trump will probably be at ease on the world stage. "Remember, Trump is a nothing if not a showman," Hadley says. “He’s been very public for decades and very conscious about how he comes across in the media." Heritage Foundation foreign policy expert James Carofano tells the Washington Post that the trip abroad will be an opportunity for Trump to have a fresh start after his troubles in DC. "The great thing about a trip, they control the environment, you control the interaction, you control the agenda and you control the press access," he says. "If you fumble on one of these trips, it’s nobody’s fault but your own." Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, disagrees. He tells the AP no other president has made a first foreign trip amid so much controversy. "He's already a president viewed skeptically by much of the world. And while the pictures from the trip may be great, the White House can't change the headlines that will follow him wherever he goes," he says. Melania Trump will be accompanying her husband on the trip, and her itinerary includes G7 and NATO spousal programs as well as speaking to American military families in Italy, Politico reports. "This will not just be an opportunity to support my husband as he works on important matters of national security and foreign relations, it will also be my honor to visit and speak with women and children from different countries," she said in a statement Thursday. (Trump is rumored to be planning to appoint Callista Gingrich as the US ambassador to the Vatican.)


Article:
This weekend marks President Donald Trump’s third straight at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. | Getty White House reverses on Trump's golf game

 President Donald Trump played a full round of golf Sunday, enjoying once again a habit he regularly assailed Barack Obama for. After initially saying Trump had only played a few holes, the White House reversed itself Monday after professional golfer Rory McIlroy posted on his website that he had played 18 holes with the president.

 “As stated yesterday the President played golf. He intended to play a few holes and decided to play longer,” White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders said Monday. “He also had a full day of meetings, calls and interviews for the new NSA, which he is continuing today before returning to Washington, D.C. tonight.”

 Story Continued Below

 This weekend marks Trump’s third straight at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, which he has taken to calling the “Winter White House.”

 Trump regularly panned Obama for his penchant for hitting the links, but Trump made it to the golf course far faster than the previous two presidents, waiting just two weeks before playing his first round. Trump recently golfed with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and is expected to conduct more such golf diplomacy.

  ||||| Donald Trump took to the golf course on Sunday. Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images News Four-time major champion Rory McIlroy played golf with Donald Trump at Trump International, Florida, on Sunday and has revealed that the president of the United States returned a score of "around 80."

 A photograph of Trump and McIlroy with Clear Sports CEO Garry Singer and former Yankees right fielder Paul O'Neill went viral recently but the four-ball that took to the field consisted of Trump, world No.3 Rory Mac, ISM agent Nick Mullen, and Trump friend Rich Levine.

 According to No Laying Up, McIlroy claimed he was not informed of the grouping until Saturday night and, though a rib injury had been delaying his plans to return to a course, he could not turn Trump's invitation down.

 McIlroy said: "[Trump] probably shot around 80. He's a decent player for a guy in his 70s!"

 Holywood hotshot McIlroy has not played competitive golf since losing a playoff to Graeme Storm in the South African Open in January.

 There are rumours he could make his comeback from injury on March 2 when the WGC-Mexico Championship tees off at the Club de Golf Chapultepec in Naucalpan, Mexico.

 Other professional golfers to wax lyrical over Trump's golfing include Tiger Woods who, in December, noted on his official blog that: "what [is] most impressive was how far Trump hits the ball at 70-years-old. He takes a pretty good lash."

 Trump has also played with "The Big Easy" Ernie Els and LPGA tour star Lexi Thompson. ||||| Donald Trump hit the links for the second straight week last Sunday, news that came as a surprise to the White House Press Pool. After Clear Sports tweeted this picture of its CEO alongside President Trump, World No. 3 Rory McIlroy and Yankees legend Paul O’Neill…

 Big battle today at Trump International with Clear CEO Garry Singer @McIlroyRory @PaulONeillYES @realDonaldTrump Drain the putt… pic.twitter.com/AZJqEVtlBT — ClearSports (@ClearSportsLLC) February 19, 2017

 …NoLayingUp.com confirmed the news with Rory.

 “He probably shot around 80. He’s a decent player for a guy in his 70’s!”

 A Trump spokesperson confirmed the report itself a few hours later, saying he had originally only intended to play a few holes.

 Because President Trump is a divisive figure among so many, that led to something of a social media backlash for Rory McIlroy. The responses were varied — many golf fans had no issue with Rory playing golf with the President — but there were a large number who did. A sampling of the negative comments:

 @McIlroyRory Rory, Rory, what are you doing whoring yourself with Trump? — sarah mac (@MacMacaslin) February 21, 2017

 I've no problem with @McIlroyRory choosing to stay out of Northern politics. But playing in his free time with Trump *IS* a political choice https://t.co/tOO2fiDVVi — Dermot Looney (@dlooney) February 20, 2017

 @McIlroyRory .. How Could You Play Golf with a Megalomaniac, like Trump … Shame on You … — JOHN HONEYFORD (@INTERTELTOP1) February 21, 2017

 @NiallOfficial hey your friend @RoryMcIlroy went golfing with tr*mp so maybe it's time to reassess this friendship — shes lucky to have u (@madyalmighty) February 21, 2017

 Rory McIlroy didnt play in the olympics cos he didnt want ppl to hate him , but he plays golf with donald trump .Good one rory #rorymcilroy — jimmy morgan (@jimmymo78647603) February 20, 2017

 Breaking: British golfer Rory McIlroy plays golf with Trump. "This doesn't make me a prat", claims Rory. "Yes it does", says everyone else. — Dustin The Turkey (@DustinOfficial) February 20, 2017

 Rory McIlroy "Playing in the Olympics is too political" **plays golf with Donald Trump** 🙄 — Robert (@amazibob) February 20, 2017

 @GolfChannel @NoLayingUp @McIlroyRory if you play with Trump all your fans will be gone. This is terrible. What a shame — Steven Moores (@moores_steven) February 20, 2017

 Golf columnist Lawrence Donegan was especially vocal in a radio segment that day:

 “The problem is that Rory is a beloved figure, probably the most beloved figure in his sport,” he said. “He is apparently appealing to a younger audience, he is very vocal about appealing to a younger audience. It basically reinforces old stereotypes.”

 “I literally can’t believe that McIlroy has done this,” he continued.

 Piers Morgan was the highest-profile figure to come to his defense:

 So @McIlroyRory plays golf with @POTUS & promptly gets viciously abused too. This anti-Trump hysteria is absolutely PATHETIC. pic.twitter.com/dqHoXDyOBF — Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 20, 2017

 Interestingly, Rory McIlroy was asked about Trump about a year ago. His response: |||||Summary:

– "He's a decent player for a guy in his 70s," pro golfer Rory McIlroy tells No Laying Up after playing a round of golf with President Trump on Sunday. McIlroy, a four-time major champion, says Trump shot "around 80," Business Insider reports. McIlroy is currently sidelined from competitive golf with a stress fracture in his rib but says he decided to tough it out when he got the invite Saturday night to play with the president. McIlroy isn't the only professional golfer to have weighed in on Trump's game. Tiger Woods has previously said Trump "takes a pretty good lash" for a man his age. But like anything having to do with Trump, Sunday's golf game wasn't without controversy. USA Today reports McIlroy took some heat on the Internet; some pointed out that he had ducked out of the most recent Olympics because they were "too political." On Trump's side, the White House was caught downplaying how much golf the president is playing, according to Politico. The White House originally reported Trump had only played "a few holes" on Sunday, but McIlroy's comments led a spokesperson to admit that Trump decided to "play longer"—a full 18 holes. Trump routinely blasted Barack Obama for playing golf while president.


– With George HW Bush dead at 94, coverage of the life of the 41st president is plentiful. Here are some early highlights: The broad strokes: For a thorough obituary and assessment, start with the Washington Post. Its story notes that while Bush served just one term as president, it was a consequential one. "The Berlin Wall fell; the Soviet Union ceased to exist; the communist bloc in Eastern Europe broke up; the Cold War ended." And Bush's "firm, restrained diplomatic sense helped assure the harmony and peace with which these world-shaking events played out, one after the other." Great detail: In its obituary, the Wall Street Journal notes that Bush flew 58 missions in the Pacific as a Navy pilot in WWII, all with the name of his girlfriend—Barbara—on the side of the plane. He once got shot down, with this video capturing the rescue. Bush is also the only American besides John Adams to be both president and the father of a president. Read his lips: The Guardian recounts some of his Bush's famous quotes, including his "read my lips" pledge to not raise taxes. He also dissed broccoli.

Expand this summary.

George Herbert Walker Bush led the U.S. to a swift and decisive victory in the first Persian Gulf War and presided over the peaceful dissolution of the Soviet Union and unification of Germany, before a painful recession cost him a second term as president.

 He died on Friday at age 94. His wife of more than 70 years, Barbara, died at the age of 92 earlier this year.

 Mr. Bush was the last American president to serve in World War II, a fight that helped shape his life and the lives of many in his generation. He went on to build a sterling resume—businessman, member of Congress, envoy to the United Nations and China, head of the Central Intelligence Agency—before becoming Republican Ronald Reagan’s vice president in 1980 and then succeeding him in the White House in the election in 1988.

 He lost his bid for re-election to Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992, after a campaign in which he was hampered by two years of disappointing economic performance and an insurrection among his own party’s conservatives over a decision to raise taxes. The loss was a bitter personal disappointment, but one he handled with the kind of grace that allowed him to become friends with Mr. Clinton in later life.

 In subsequent years, historians have been far kinder regarding the Bush presidency than were voters at the time. Mr. Bush also won some degree of vindication when his eldest son, George W. Bush, won the White House in 2000, making Mr. Bush the only American since John Adams to be both a president and father of a president.

 George H.W. Bush was born June 12, 1924, in Milton, Mass. His father, Prescott Bush, was a successful Wall Street executive and, later, a U.S. senator from Connecticut.

 The son appeared set to follow his father’s steps from elite prep school to Yale and on to a career in the financial industry when World War II broke out. The younger Mr. Bush joined the Navy and, when sworn in on his 18th birthday, became its youngest pilot.

 He flew 58 missions in the Pacific, piloting an Avenger torpedo bomber—with his girlfriend Barbara’s name painted on its side—from an aircraft carrier. He was shot down and was rescued by a submarine, a rescue captured in what became a famous bit of grainy film footage. Two other crewmen died; Mr. Bush was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

 Photos: The Life of President George H.W. Bush The 41st president served from 1989 to 1993 and was the father of a president and a former Florida governor. Mr. Bush, arriving from a day trip to Columbia, S.C., on Feb. 15, 1989, waved to the White House balcony where first lady Barbara Bush was waiting for him. Charles Tasnadi/Associated Press 1 of 20 • • • • • 1 of 20 Show Caption Mr. Bush, arriving from a day trip to Columbia, S.C., on Feb. 15, 1989, waved to the White House balcony where first lady Barbara Bush was waiting for him. Charles Tasnadi/Associated Press

 Upon returning from the war, he married that girlfriend, the former Barbara Pierce, and finished his education at Yale, but eschewed the path to Wall Street that his family ties offered. Instead, with the help of a dose of family money, he moved to Midland, Texas, where he became a businessman in the oil-field supply, exploration and production businesses. Later, he co-founded Zapata Petroleum, which pioneered offshore oil-drilling platforms.

 The Bush family eventually moved to Houston, where he began his political career as chairman of the Harris County Republican Party. After an unsuccessful run for a Senate seat, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1966 and served two terms.

 He then lost another race for a U.S. Senate seat, a defeat that might well have ended his political career. But he was rescued by President Richard Nixon, who named him ambassador to the United Nations. A series of other top appointments followed, including chairman of the Republican National Committee, envoy to China and director of the CIA.

 That string of jobs made Mr. Bush a sufficiently prominent figure in the Republican Party, and he decided to seek the presidency in 1980. For a time he was the leading contender, particularly after scoring a surprise win in the Iowa caucuses.

 He had long embraced his father’s brand of moderate Republican politics, and labeled the tax-cut plans of his main conservative foe, Mr. Reagan, as “voodoo economics.”

 But a conservative wave was sweeping the GOP, and it carried Mr. Reagan to the nomination. At a dramatic convention in Detroit, Mr. Reagan flirted with asking a former president, Gerald Ford, to serve as his running mate, before deciding that wouldn’t be a workable plan. At the last minute, he asked Mr. Bush to run with him.

 It was a potentially uncomfortable fit, but Mr. Bush was unswerving in his loyalty to Mr. Reagan. He embodied what former Secretary of State George Shultz called in a memoir “the loyal lieutenant role,” intimately involved in the councils of power and serving as a confidential adviser to the president.

 He also left few traces of his own influence. When the Iran-Contra scandal rocked the Reagan administration in 1986, Mr. Bush escaped censure by claiming he had been “out of the loop” when decisions were made to trade arms for hostages. He attended so many state funerals that some joked his motto was “You die, I fly.”

 Mr. Bush’s shining moment as vice president came in the aftermath of the 1981 assassination attempt on Mr. Reagan, when the president lay near death in the hospital and the nation seemed leaderless. While Secretary of State Al Haig memorably declared himself “in charge,” Mr. Bush slid into place, easing the crisis atmosphere without seeming to arrogate power to himself.

 He ran to succeed Mr. Reagan, won the nomination and announced to the 1988 Republican convention that he envisioned a “kinder and gentler nation.” That was a rhetorical signal of at least a slight shift to the center after the Reagan years.

 But, in an effort to deflect skepticism among some conservatives, Mr. Bush also declared, “Read my lips: No new taxes,” a fateful promise that came back to haunt and eventually help undo his presidency.

 As the economy and the nation’s fiscal condition deteriorated, Mr. Bush abandoned the no-tax-hike pledge and signed a tax-raising measure. The decision evoked anger and a sense of betrayal among conservatives and led to a primary challenge from the right’s firebrand Pat Buchanan. Mr. Bush also was hurt by a weak base in Washington; he was only the second American president to serve a full term without party control in either chamber of Congress.

 Earlier Former first lady Barbara Bush has died at the age of 92. She was the wife of 41st president George H.W. Bush, mother of 43rd president, George W. Bush, and 2016 candidate Jeb Bush. During and after her time in the White House she championed the cause of improving literacy rates among Americans. Photo: Reuters

 Mr. Bush was far more in his element on international affairs. After Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, Mr. Bush—aided by his close associates, Brent Scowcroft as national security adviser and James Baker as secretary of state—patiently wove a diplomatic and military web that trapped the Iraqi leader and led to a lightning war that successfully drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

 When the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, the Bush administration delicately handled the immediate potentially explosive political fallout among old adversaries and, through patient diplomacy, helped pave the way for a largely peaceful series of revolutions in Eastern Europe that culminated in the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

 Mr. Bush proved himself willing to use American military might elsewhere. He first took military action in 1989, when he ordered the removal of Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega.

 After success in the 100-hour Persian Gulf War, the greatest U.S. military victory since World War II, Mr. Bush seemed the captain of an American juggernaut. His approval rating approached 90%. He and advisers began talking about a “new world order” of international equilibrium.

 But the American electorate turned fickle in the face of high unemployment and a sluggish economy, and Mr. Buchanan mounted a primary challenge to his re-election in 1992. He never fully recovered and lost the election to Mr. Clinton.

 Mr. Bush inspired generations of Americans to public service, President Trump said in a statement early Saturday. “Along with his full life of service to country, we will remember President Bush for his devotion to family—especially the love of his life, Barbara.”

 In retirement, Mr. Bush undertook a few diplomatic missions and celebrated his birthday into his mid-80s with a parachute jump. He developed postpresidential friendships with former foes, including Bob Dole, a fellow World War II veteran. And he built a strong bond with Bill Clinton, which began when the two former presidents worked together to raise money for victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 and continued as they occasionally joined forces on other projects.

 While his son George W. Bush was elected president and managed to win the second term that had eluded him, Mr. Bush stayed largely in the background. Later, Mr. Bush again stayed largely in the background while his wife, Barbara, gave interviews supporting son Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign.

 Mr. Bush found a way, though, to signal his unhappiness with the man who vanquished his son in the 2016 election, Donald Trump. He stayed away from his party’s 2016 convention.

 When Barbara Bush died, Mr. Bush’s office described the former president as heartbroken but strong and stoic. Of her passing, Mr. Bush said: “We have faith she is in heaven, and we know life will go on—as she would have it. So cross the Bushes off your worry list.”

 Write to Gerald F. Seib at jerry.seib@wsj.com ||||| “It is my considered judgment that you should now resign. I expect in your lonely, embattled position this would seem to you as an act of disloyalty from one you have supported and helped in so many ways. My own view is that I would now ill serve a president, whose massive accomplishments I will always respect and whose family I love, if I did not now give you my judgment.” August 1974, speaking to President Richard Nixon shortly before he resigned, when Bush was Republican national chairman.

 ___

 “And my opponent won’t rule out raising taxes. But I will. And the Congress will push me to raise taxes, and I’ll say no, and they’ll push, and I’ll say no, and they’ll push again. And I’ll say to them: Read my lips. No new taxes.” 18 August, 1988, during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.

 George HW Bush, former US president, dies aged 94 Read more

 ___

 “We know what works: Freedom works. We know what’s right: Freedom is right. We know how to secure a more just and prosperous life for man on Earth: through free markets, free speech, free elections and the exercise of free will unhampered by the state.” 20 January, 1989, during his inaugural address.

 ___

 “Look to the very heart of Europe, to Berlin, and you will see a great truth shining brighter with each passing day: The quest for freedom is stronger than steel, more permanent than concrete.” November 1989, as the Berlin Wall was crumbling.

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 “I do not like broccoli, and I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli.” 22 March, 1990.

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 “Five months ago, Saddam Hussein started this cruel war against Kuwait. Tonight, the battle has been joined. ... Our goal is not the conquest of Iraq. It is the liberation of Kuwait.” 17 January, 1991, when the first Gulf War began.

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 “The fact that he is black, a minority, has nothing to do with this. He is the best qualified.” July 1991, on announcing he had selected federal appeals court judge Clarence Thomas for the US supreme court.

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 “I plan to put something back into society, and not at the head table, not always in the glamour, certainly not with a lot of news attention.” January 1993, days before leaving office.

 George HW Bush obituary Read more

 ___

 “To those who say we no longer need a CIA, I say you’re nuts. To those who want to dismantle CIA or put it under some other department ... you’re nuts, too. And to those who feel the right to know takes precedence over legitimate classification of documents or over protecting our most precious asset, our people, the same to you. You’re nuts, and so’s the horse you came in on.” 17 September, 1997, at ceremony marking the 50th birthday of the CIA.

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 “Though I might be tempted to utter a few words of encouragement to anyone who is considering my boy, I will heed the immortal words of Dana Carvey: ‘Not gonna do it. Wouldn’t be prudent.’” Early 2000, citing a line from the Saturday Night Live comedian while attending a nonpartisan event as his son sought the GOP nomination.

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 “I learned more from Ronald Reagan than from anyone I encountered in all my years of public life.” 11 June, 2004, at the funeral for former President Ronald Reagan.

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 “Who would have thought that I would be working with Bill Clinton, of all people? ... It’s been an eye-opening and enjoyable experience for me to work with him on something truly apolitical.” 25 October, 2005, discussing his work with a former rival on tsunami and hurricane relief. ||||| This is a set of web collections curated by Mark Graham using the Archive-IT service of the Internet Archive. They include web captures of the ISKME.org website as well as captures from sites hosted by IGC.org.These web captures are available to the general public.For more information about this collection please feel free to contact Mark via Send Mail |||||


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– More bad public relations for the Ferguson police department, this time from its PR officer: The force's chief spokesman has been suspended indefinitely without pay after calling a memorial to slain teenager Michael Brown "trash," reports KMOV. The memorial, in the middle of the street where Brown was shot and killed by Officer Darren Wilson, was destroyed by a driver on Friday night, apparently intentionally. When the Washington Post asked Officer Timothy Zoll about the destruction, he said, "I don't know that a crime has occurred. But a pile of trash in the middle of the street? The Washington Post is making a call over this?" City officials initially backed Zoll, a 12-year veteran of the force, but they changed their position after determining he had falsely claimed to have been misquoted by the Post, reports the New York Times. Zoll "misled his superiors when asked about the contents of the interview," the city said in a statement, adding that it wants to "emphasize that negative remarks about the Michael Brown memorial do not reflect the feelings of the Ferguson Police Department and are in direct contradiction to the efforts of city officials to relocate the memorial to a more secure location." The memorial, including flowers, notes, and stuffed animals, was quickly rebuilt after Friday's destruction.

Supporters helped to rebuild a memorial built in honor of Michael Brown on Friday in Ferguson, Mo., after a driver crashed into it overnight. (Netta via Vine)

 People hurriedly cleaned and rebuilt a memorial to Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., on Friday morning after they said a car intentionally destroyed it.

 Flowers, signs and other mementos, left in remembrance of the 18-year-old who was killed in a police shooting in August, were scattered throughout the streets, stirring supporters who saw pictures on social media to gather to restore the makeshift shrine.

 Just got to #MikeBrown memorial and it’s been ran over. Someone who saw it on video said it was intentional. pic.twitter.com/UlR2TGSxCS — J. Meless (@jay_myles2) December 26, 2014

 I can’t believe some destroyed the Canfield memorial on Christmas. Hate is deep. (via @jay_myles2) pic.twitter.com/XumtQ23gMT — deray mckesson (@deray) December 26, 2014

 A few people are here and planning to restore the memorial right now. Hate won’t win tonight #MikeBrown #Ferguson — J. Meless (@jay_myles2) December 26, 2014

 Officer Timothy Zoll, the Ferguson Police Department’s public relations officer, said that no crime had been reported in connection to the memorial’s destruction. He suggested that the department would look at any video of the incident, but he did not specify whether the department would investigate. “I don’t know that a crime has occurred,” Zoll said Friday. “But a pile of trash in the middle of the street? The Washington Post is making a call over this?” Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Brown on Aug. 9, sparking a national conversation about race relations and police enforcement in the United States. The memorial sits in the middle of a street near the Canfield Green apartment complex, where Brown was shot and died. The memorial was rebuilt by morning.

 The rebuilt #MichaelBrown memorial on Canfield. @michaelcalhoun first reported car destroying it this am. pic.twitter.com/us85BXlFUy — Brett A. Blume (@brettblumekmox) December 26, 2014 ||||| Ferguson officer placed on leave after referring to Mike Brown memorial as ‘trash’

 FERGUSON, Mo (KMOV.com) – The Ferguson Public Information Officer for the City of Ferguson Police Department has been placed on unpaid leave after referring to the Michael Brown memorial as ‘trash.’

 According to the Washington Post, Officer Timothy Zoll, the Ferguson Police Department’s public relations officer said no crime had been reported in connection to the memorial’s destruction early Friday morning. Zoll suggested the department would look at any video of the incident, but did not specify whether the department would investigate after a vehicle allegedly ran over the memorial on Canfield Drive.

 “I don’t know that a crime has occurred,” Zoll said to a Washington Post reporter on Friday. He was quoted as saying “But a pile of trash in the middle of the street? That Washington Post is making a call over this?”

 The City of Ferguson released a statement Saturday, saying they initiated an internal investigation, and Officer Zoll admitted he misled his superiors when they inquired about the contents of his interview.

 Officer Zoll has now been placed on unpaid leave, effective immediately, while the department evaluates disciplinary action.

 The City of Ferguson’s statement says the “negative remarks about the memorial do not reflect the feelings of the Ferguson Police Department and are in direct contradiction to the efforts of city officials to relocate the memorial to a more secure location.”

 Department officials say they are focused on creating a trusting relationship with the entire community and taking steps to improve the effectiveness of the department. ||||| A spokesman for the Ferguson, Mo., police department has been placed on unpaid leave after he admitted that he referred to a memorial for the black teenager fatally shot by a white officer as “a pile of trash in the middle of the street,” and then falsely claimed that he had been misquoted by The Washington Post, city officials said.

 Officer Tim Zoll, who has served as the Ferguson Police Department’s spokesman in the months since Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown, has been suspended until further notice, the city said in a news release on Saturday.

 Mr. Brown was shot and killed on Aug. 9, and his death has made Ferguson, a mostly black St. Louis suburb with a mostly white police force, the site of repeated protests and the center of a national discussion about race and the use of force in policing.

 After his death, a memorial was built in the middle of the street on Canfield Drive near the site of the shooting. On Christmas Day, the memorial — consisting of flowers, stuffed animals and notes — was destroyed when a vehicle plowed through it, in what was believed to be an intentional act. The memorial was quickly rebuilt Friday morning, and in a story that day about the destruction of the memorial, The Post interviewed Officer Zoll, who said that no complaint had been reported to the police in connection with the incident. |||||


Summarize this article:

Spotting native alligators and crocodiles in Florida is common, but anyone who sees a large reptile may want to take a second look -- human-eaters that can grow to 18 feet long and weigh as much as a small car have been found in the Sunshine State.

 Using DNA analysis, University of Florida researchers have confirmed the capture of multiple Nile crocodiles in the wild.

 The ancient icon eats everything from zebras to small hippos to humans in sub-Saharan Africa. Now three juveniles of the monster crocodile, have been found in South Florida, swimming in the Everglades and relaxing on a house porch in Miami.

 The invasive crocodiles were captured between 2000 and 2014, leading UF scientists to analyze their DNA, study their diet and one of the animal's growth. Scientists verified the animals were Nile crocodiles linked to native populations in South Africa, and confirmed the species can survive in Florida -- and potentially thrive, said Kenneth Krysko, herpetology collections manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus.

 In other words, there likely are more.

 "The odds that the few of us who study Florida reptiles have found all of the Nile crocs out there is probably unlikely," said Krysko, co-author of the study published in April in the Journal of Herpetological Conservation and Biology. "We know that they can survive in the Florida wilderness for numerous years, we know that they grow quickly here and we know their behavior in their native range, and there is no reason to suggest that would change here in Florida."

 Nile crocodiles, Crocodylus niloticus, were responsible for at least 480 attacks on people and 123 fatalities in Africa between 2010 and 2014. They are generalist predators and eat a wide variety of prey. In Florida, everything from native birds, fish and mammals to the state's native crocodile and alligator would be fair game for the carnivorous croc.

 The study found one juvenile grew nearly 28 percent faster than wild Nile crocodile juveniles from some parts of their native range.

 DNA analysis revealed the three similar-size Nile crocodiles were genetically identical, suggesting they were introduced via the same source, but Krysko said the source has not been confirmed. Prior to graduating in 2013, former UF doctoral student and co-author Matthew Shirley extensively sampled DNA of live Nile crocodiles housed in U.S. zoos, including Florida. The DNA of the three crocodiles did not match any of those Shirley sampled, suggesting they were either acquired by a permitted source later, or introduced by someone without a permit.

 Study scientists note that over the last decade, large groups of Nile crocodiles have been imported from South Africa and Madagascar for display at places like Disney's Animal Kingdom and to supply Florida's flourishing pet trade, with the latter being the most likely introduction pathway, according to the study.

 While there is currently no evidence of an established population, study scientists recommend a scientific risk assessment to evaluate the potential for Nile crocodiles to breed and spread across the state. According to the study, Florida's Atlantic coast and the entire Gulf of Mexico coastline provide favorable climate for Nile crocodiles.

 Florida's subtropical climate is one reason the state has the world's largest number of invasive species -- from the Burmese python that has infested the Everglades to the Cuban tree frog, which has been found as far north as Jacksonville on the East Coast and as far north as Cedar Key on the Gulf Coast.

 "My hope as a biologist is that the introduction of Nile crocodiles in Florida opens everyone's eyes to the problem of invasive species that we have here in our state," Krysko said. "Now here's another one, but this time it isn't just a tiny house gecko from Africa." ||||| FORT LAUDERDALE — Step aside, Burmese python — you may no longer be Florida's scariest invasive species.

 Researchers have confirmed that three Nile crocodiles were captured near Miami, and they say it's possible more of the man-eating reptiles are still out there, although no one can say for sure.

 The big question now: How did they get to Florida?

 "They didn't swim from Africa," University of Florida herpetologist Kenneth Krysko said. "But we really don't know how they got into the wild."

 Krysko and his co-authors just published a paper showing that DNA testing proved the three animals captured in 2009, 2011 and 2014 are Nile crocs, a species whose males grow to over 16 feet long and weigh upward of 1,600 pounds.

 Nile crocs are believed to be responsible for up to 200 fatalities annually in their native sub-Saharan Africa. Compare that with an annual average of six reported shark attack deaths globally.

 Krysko, who works at UF's Florida Museum of Natural History, said the captured crocodiles matched genetically, meaning they are related to one another, but didn't match Nile crocs kept at Disney's Animal Kingdom and other licensed Florida attractions.

 That means they probably were brought to Florida illegally by an unlicensed reptile collector who either didn't contain them properly, allowing them to escape, or, more sinisterly, planted them in the Everglades in hopes they would multiply.

 The Nile croc, if it became established in the Everglades, would pose another invasive threat to its teetering ecosystem. Through crossbreeding, they could endanger the smaller, less aggressive American crocodiles, which have never been responsible for a confirmed human death in the U.S.

 About 1,000 American crocodiles live in South Florida, mostly in mangroves and estuaries. Any hybrids would degrade the genetic integrity of the endangered American variety.

 Nile crocs also are known to attack livestock, which would be bad news for cattle farms that border the Everglades.

 Krysko and two co-authors, independent wildlife biologist Joe Wasilewski and UF wildlife ecology professor Frank Mazzotti, think more Nile crocs lurk unfound in the Everglades, but they aren't certain.

 Allyson Gantt, a spokeswoman for Everglades National Park, where one of the reptiles was found, disagrees, saying no Nile crocs still roam the park.

 Some Everglades visitors might not be aware of the differences between crocodiles and alligators, complicating efforts to confirm any remaining crocs. Crocodiles have angular snouts, and their lower teeth are exposed when their mouths are closed.

 Alligator snouts are rounded, with few exposed lower teeth. Nile crocs are usually bronze or brownish yellow; alligators are blackish green.

 All three Nile crocodiles were captured in extreme South Florida.

 The first, a hatchling, was found on a front porch and sent to a Louisiana reptile exhibit. The second, a female measuring 4 feet, was captured at a park. Wasilewski kept it, but later gave it to another licensed researcher. The third was captured twice. The first trapper didn't have the proper permit, so he released the female. The croc was recaptured two years later 18 miles away by water in Everglades National Park. It was euthanized. |||||

– Huge, man-eating crocodiles may be hiding throughout the Florida wilderness, according to a study published last month in Herpetological Conservation and Biology. The Orlando Sentinel reports that DNA testing on three young crocodiles caught between 2009 and 2014 confirmed them to be Nile crocodiles native to Africa. Nile crocodiles can grow up to 18 feet long and weigh as much as a car, according to a press release. They eat everything from hippos to humans and are believed to be responsible for up to 200 human fatalities a year in Africa. The Florida Everglades have long proven to be a haven for nonnative species—including the Burmese python and Cuban tree frog. “Here's another one," study co-author Kenneth Kysko says. "But this time it isn't just a tiny house gecko." Researchers say the Nile crocodile could thrive in Florida, which is bad news for the already tenuous ecosystem in the Everglades. Nile crocodiles could eat and mate the smaller and less-aggressive native alligators and crocodiles out of existence. Not to mention what they could do to livestock and human populations. Analysis of one of the captured Nile crocodiles—it grew 28% faster than Nile crocodiles in Africa—showed they can thrive in Florida. And researchers believe there are likely more living in the Everglades. It's unclear how the Nile crocodiles got to Florida. As their DNA doesn't match up with Nile crocodiles at Disney's Animal Kingdom and other attractions, it's most likely they are escaped pets. "They didn't swim from Africa," Krysko tells the Sentinel.


Here is a news article: Theresa May makes TV statement as police search for bomber who left dozens injured by blast at Parsons Green station

 Britain’s terror threat level has been raised from severe to critical, indicating a further attack may be imminent following the Parsons Green tube bombing, Theresa May has said.

 The hunt is under way for the bomber who attempted to bring carnage to a London rush-hour tube train packed with schoolchildren and commuters.

 London tube bombing: 18-year-old man arrested in Dover - live updates Read more

 Twenty-nine people including a young boy were injured when the bomb partially detonated and sent a ball of fire along a carriage of a District line train at Parsons Green, west London.

 Police are understood to have found CCTV images that captured the bomber as he boarded the train with the bomb packed in a white plastic bucket inside a Lidl supermarket bag. The train is believed to have had onboard CCTV, and there are a large number of cameras covering the network.

 Islamic State claimed responsibility for the blast, the militant group’s Amaq news agency said on Friday evening.

 Nobody suffered life-threatening injuries in the incident, the fifth terrorist attack Britain has suffered in less than six months. Parsons Green station has since reopened.

 In a televised statement on Friday night, the prime minister said the UK terror threat level was being raised to its highest rating and that armed police and members of the military would be seen on the streets in the coming days.

 Play Video 0:55 Theresa May: terror threat level raised to critical after London tube blast – video

 “For this period, military personnel will replace police officers on guard duties at certain protected sites that are not accessible to the public,” she said.

 “The public will see more armed police on the transport network and on our streets, providing extra protection. This is a proportionate and sensible step which will provide extra reassurance and protection while the investigation progresses.”

 The prime minister condemned Friday’s bombing as cowardly and the home secretary, Amber Rudd, denounced it as “callous and indiscriminate”. The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, described the attack as hideous and added: “We will never be defeated.”

 The security minister Ben Wallace told the BBC on Saturday: “We haven’t been able at the moment to catch the bomber. The bomber is still out there – or bombers – and we have to get to the bottom of that and follow up the leads.”

 The Met assistant commissioner Mark Rowley, the UK’s most senior anti-terror police officer, said police were “chasing down suspects”. He said support from the military would free up about 1,000 extra armed police officers, largely from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and Ministry of Defence police.

 A former army bomb disposal officer said it appeared the initiating charge of the device had exploded but had failed to detonate the main charge.

 Initially, police considered the possibility that the bomber had been among those taken to hospital, where many were treated for flash burns.

 Investigators. however, believe the device was remotely detonated, which suggested it may not have been intended as a suicide attack, and that the bomber may have left the train before the explosion.

 Donald Trump’s first response to the attack – a tweet in which he claimed the “loser terrorist” had been on Scotland Yard’s radar, and that more proactive policing was required – was dismissed by a police spokesman as “unhelpful”. May also criticised the US president, saying: “I never think it is helpful for anybody to speculate on what is an ongoing investigation.”

 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Another attack in London by a loser terrorist.These are sick and demented people who were in the sights of Scotland Yard. Must be proactive!

 The explosion happened at about 8.20am on Friday while the train was stationary and the doors open.

 Rory Rigney had just boarded the rear carriage of the train and was standing just feet away when the blast went off. “I thought: ‘Did someone smash something?’ It sounded like a smash, then I heard a scream and thought: ‘It’s someone having a fight.’ Then I saw the fireball coming towards me – yellow or orange. My face still feels warm.

 “The doors were still open, so I jumped out and tried to get as far away as possible, got on the ground and covered myself. I wasn’t hanging around to get a better look at it.”

 Chris Wildish, who was also on the train, said “a massive flash of flames” reached up to the ceiling of the train, and then the air was filled with the smell of chemicals. Many of the passengers were schoolchildren, who were knocked around by people trying to get away from the fire, he said.

 Emma Stevie said people tumbled over each other as they tried to escape. “There were people on top of people. There was a pregnant lady under me shouting: ‘I’m pregnant’. There was a little boy in his red and black uniform, he must have been about eight years old, a tiny thing, with his face smashed into the steps.”

 Before long, a number of people returned to the train to retrieve bags and telephones. A few took photographs of the smouldering remains of the device, which had been packed into a bucket that eyewitnesses said appeared to have held mayonnaise. A number of wires, which appeared to be attached to small lights, were also visible.

 Tube staff then ordered people to leave the station. Armed police were on the scene within minutes, as were firefighters and paramedics, who began treating people with burns.

 Police threw a cordon around the area and asked some residents to leave their homes. Armed police evacuated a nursery and a junior school, and a girls’ secondary school was placed in lockdown.

 NHS England said 29 patients had been treated, with 21 still in hospital on Friday evening.

 Responsibility for the investigation was quickly handed to Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command.

 Emma (@EmmaStevie1) I'm safe - just had to run for my life at #ParsonsGreen station - huge stamped, lots injured. Not sure why - fire/explosion mentioned. pic.twitter.com/zRvRPWOuzA

 Rowley said hundreds of detectives had been drafted in to the investigation, and he appealed to the public for information.

 So far, 77 images and videos have been sent to investigators via the UK Police Image Appeal website.

 Alex Littlefield (@A_Littlefield) Still unclear but very scary - extremely heavy armed police presence now #ParsonsGreen pic.twitter.com/WkodyNsfk0

 On Friday night detectives were examining a mass of CCTV footage from the underground rail network, and from businesses around some District line stations.

 The device was being examined by forensics experts, and may offer clues from its construction and from the chemicals used to make the explosive charge.

 Counter-terrorism investigators will want to establish where the device was put together, and where the materials to make it were acquired. They will also be attempting to establish whether the bomb-making knowledge was acquired from the plethora of DIY guides on the internet, or from another person.

 Facebook Twitter Pinterest A picture posted on Twitter of a burning plastic bag holding what is believed to be an improvised explosive device on a District line train. Photograph: @RRigs

 Rita Katz, the director of the private intelligence company Site, said Isis claimed the bombing was the work of a “detachment” rather than simply a “soldier”, which she said implied it was a co-ordinated attack.

 The terror group has frequently declared that it was behind terrorist incidents in recent years but experts have warned that its claims should be treated with caution.

 The explosion at Parsons Green is the first terrorist attack in the UK this year to not result in loss of life. Two vehicle and knife attacks in London and a bombing in Manchester were blamed on Islamist-motivated terrorism. A van attack in June was blamed on an extreme rightwing motivation.

 Hans Michels, a professor of safety engineering at the chemical engineering department at Imperial College London, said there appeared to be similarities with the failed attempts on 21 July 2005 to bomb the tube network.

 Play Video 0:47 'People were falling on top of each other': Parsons Green witness explains the panic

 “In appearance and arrangement the remnants of the device seem highly similar to those of the hydrogen peroxide-based devices of 2005. The size of the device and its containment in a plastic bucket is also the same.”

 The trial of the 21 July bombers heard that their devices had failed because they had made mistakes when mixing the chemicals.

 Additional reporting: Sarah Marsh, Kevin Rawlinson and Patrick Greenfield

  ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Footage shows a burning bag on board the Tube carriage at Parsons Green station

 An "improvised explosive device" was detonated on a Tube train in south-west London during Friday's morning rush hour, injuring 29 people.

 The blast, at Parsons Green station on a District Line train from Wimbledon, is being treated as terrorism.

 So-called Islamic State says it carried out the attack, which Prime Minister Theresa May condemned as "cowardly".

 A hunt is under way for the person who placed the device and the area around the station has been evacuated.

 Specialist officers there securing the remains of the improvised device and ensuring it is stable.

 'Cowardly attack'

 Mrs May said the attack had been "intended to cause significant harm".

 She said the UK's terror threat level would remain at severe - the second highest - but would be under review.

 Speaking in Downing Street after chairing a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee, she said there would be an increased armed police presence on the transport network in London.

 Hundreds of detectives and MI5 are investigating the attack, which took place at 08:20 BST on an eastbound train.

 Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley earlier refused to say whether anyone had been arrested.

 Image copyright PA Image caption One commuter took a picture of the device, which appeared to have wires protruding from a white canister

 Pictures taken of the train show a white bucket on fire inside a supermarket bag, with wires trailing on to the carriage floor. The BBC understands the device had a timer.

 BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said the bomb appeared not to have gone off.

 Had it worked as intended, it would have killed everyone around it and maimed everyone in the train carriage for life, he said.

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption PM: Trump speculation "not helpful"

 US President Donald Trump has spoken to Prime Minister Theresa May to convey his sympathies for those injured in the terrorist attack, the White House has said.

 President Trump pledged to continue close collaboration with the UK to stop attacks and combat extremism, the statement added.

 A Downing Street spokesman said: "President Trump called the prime minister earlier today to offer his condolences over this morning's cowardly attack in London."

 US President Donald Trump had earlier tweeted that the "sick and demented" people behind the attack had been in the sights of the Metropolitan Police, prompting Mrs May to say it was not helpful to "speculate" on an ongoing investigation.

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device

 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital has been treating 14 people, with a "small number" of them being taken to its specialist burns unit.

 Four people are being treated by Imperial College Healthcare and three at St George's Hospital.

 St Thomas' Hospital in London said it had treated eight patients but they had now been discharged.

 Mr Rowley asked the public to remain "vigilant", but said they should "not be alarmed".

 He said anyone who took pictures or videos at the scene could upload them to ukpoliceimageappeal.co.uk.

 London Mayor Sadiq Khan appealed for calm, saying the city would "never be intimidated or defeated by terrorism".

 Witnesses speak of 'panic'

 Witnesses to the incident have described seeing at least one passenger with facial injuries, while others spoke of "panic" as alarmed passengers left the train at the station, which is above ground.

 Anna Gorniak, who was in the same Tube carriage as the explosion, said: "I could see a fireball filling the carriage and coming our way. At that moment, I started to run.

 "In my mind I was praying, I probably thought for a second, 'That's it, my life is over.'"

 Image caption Anna Gorniak said she could see a fireball "filling the carriage"

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Peter Crowley: "There was a fireball above my head"

 Passenger Peter Crowley was sitting in the carriage, travelling from Wimbledon, when the explosion happened.

 He said his head was burned by a "really hot intense fireball above my head" and added: "There were people a lot worse than me."

 Chris Wildish told BBC Radio 5 live he saw a bucket in a supermarket bag with "low-level flames coming out of it" by the door of the rear carriage.

 Analysis

 Image copyright AFP Image caption The blast happened at 08:20 BST at Parsons Green District Line station

 By Dominic Casciani, BBC home affairs correspondent

 The bomb at Parsons Green was an improvised explosive device (IED) and, like those on 21/7, it didn't work as planned.

 The device's initiator appears to have worked - but the main charge did not detonate. This could be because the bomb-maker had got the recipe wrong.

 In the case of the 21/7 attacks, the attackers tried to create TATP, an explosive compound made from hydrogen peroxide, commonly sold as hair bleach, and other chemicals.

 They added chapatti flour to make the explosion more powerful still. But their chemistry was incompetent - in fact so incompetent that the ringleader had no idea, when he strapped on his rucksack, whether his device was capable of detonating or not.

 TATP was used in the Manchester Arena attack earlier this year - and it was also the chemical of choice for some of the Paris 2015 attackers and the men behind the Brussels Airport bombing the following year.

 Read more

 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption There have been a "number of people" injured, police said

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Witnesses describe the explosion at Parsons Green

 Emma Stevie, 27, who was on the train when the explosion happened, said she was caught in a "human stampede" and crush on the station steps as people rushed away from the train.

 "I wedged myself in next to a railing, I put myself in the foetal position," she said.

 "There was a pregnant woman underneath me, and I was trying really hard not to crush her.

 "I saw a poor little boy with a smashed-in head and other injuries. It was horrible."

 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption BBC presenter Sophie Raworth was near Parsons Green station minutes after the incident happened

 At Parsons Green

 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Witnesses have described seeing at least one passenger with facial injuries

 By Jennifer Scott, BBC News

 London has again fallen victim to a terror attack, targeting commuters on their way to work and visitors venturing out into the city.

 With 22 people treated in hospital, this bustling part of zone two was left confused and shocked, waiting anxiously for an explanation.

 Olaniyi Shokumai was riding the Tube on the way to a training course, with his headphones plugged in and listening to music - just as he would on any other journey.

 After the train pulled into Parsons Green station, however, things became far from ordinary.

 "I looked to my left and I saw lots of people running out. There were a lot of people just stamping on each other and I saw someone jumping over [them].

 "There was a woman on the floor and she couldn't breathe. I thought, 'This has got to be serious for people to do that.'"

 Ladders used to evacuate train ||||| This will appear next to all of your comments

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A summary of this is?

– An explosion and fire on a London Underground train caused panic and injuries during rush hour Friday morning. Police, ambulances, and firefighters were called to the Parsons Green station in the southwest of the city after the blast, which authorities are now calling a terrorist attack, the Guardian reports. Photos and video shared on social media showed a fire in a bucket but no extensive damage to the subway car. Passenger Richard Aylmer-Hall says he saw several people injured in a stampede to escape the packed train. "Suddenly there was panic, lots of people shouting, screaming, lots of screaming," he says. Passenger Peter Crowley tells the BBC that he was sitting on the train when he felt a "really hot intense fireball above my head." He adds: "There were people a lot worse than me." Other witnesses say they saw at least one person being taken away with burn injuries. The London Ambulance Service says at least 18 people were hospitalized after the attack, none of them with life-threatening injuries, the AP reports. London Mayor Sadiq Khan urged Londoners to remain vigilant and said the city "utterly condemns the hideous individuals who attempt to use terror to harm us and destroy our way of life."